• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Ipl Star To Debut As South Africa Announce Playing Xi For 2Nd Test Vs Pakistan

IPL Star To Debut As South Africa Announce Playing XI For 2nd Test vs Pakistan

Aashay Chopade

South African team in Test cricket (Source:@dhillow_/X.com)South African team in Test cricket (Source:@dhillow_/X.com)

South Africa qualified for the World Test Championship Final with a win over Pakistan in the first Test. They were expected to give opportunities to youngsters in their XI after the first Test and have done exactly that by naming Kwena Maphaka in the line-up for the second game.

The 18-year-old left-arm pacer recently made his ODI and T20I debuts for South Africa and is now set to play the purest form of the game for his country at Newlands, Cape Town. Maphaka has replaced Dane Paterson while Keshav Maharaj and Wiaan Mulder come in for Tony De Zorzi and Corbin Bosch.

Keshav Maharaj, Mulder Back After Injury

Interestingly, Dane Paterson and Corbin Bosch both played crucial parts in South Africa's win in the first Test. Paterson picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings while Bosch picked five wickets in the match and scored unbeaten 81 in the first innings. However, Keshav Maharaj is an experienced spinner and was expected to come in as soon as he got fit while Mulder too did well before his injury.

Maphaka's inclusion on the other hand is a sign that South African management is looking to groom the youngster as a long term option across formats. He has been impressive both at the U19 level and in his brief international career and also also played in IPL 2024 for Mumbai Indians.

Rest of the South African squad remains same with Temba Bavuma leading the pack. Ryan Rickelton is set to open the batting with Zorzi out of the XI while Mulder will play the role of batting all-rounder. Pakistan played good cricket in the last match but could not cross the line, and it would be interesting to see how things pan out in this final Test.

South Africa's Playing XI Against Pakistan For 2nd Test

Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (C), David Bedingham,  Kyle Verreynne (WK), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Kwena Maphaka