SA vs BAN | South Africa becomes the 1st team to use COVID-19 substitutes in international cricket

In a first, the South African cricket team replaced Sarel Erwee and Wiaan Mulder with Khaya Zondo and Glenton Stuurman in their playing XI on Monday to become the first side to use COVID-19 substitutes in international cricket.

It happened ahead of what turned out to be the final day of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh when two members of the Proteas' playing XI- Sarel Erwee and Wiaan Mulder- tested positive for COVID-19. 

Confirming the development, Cricket South Africa (CSA) released an official statement that read:

"Khaya Zondo will make his Test debut on Day 4 of the 2nd #BetwayTest against Bangladesh after Sarel Erwee and Wiaan Mulder tested positive for Covid-19. The pair replaced with Zondo and Glenton Stuurman."

Speaking on the development, CSA's chief medical officer Dr. Shuaib Manjira described it as an unfortunate but expected situation given the series was being played in a managed environment where the movement of players was allowed and not in a strict bio-bubble.

"This is an unfortunate situation, but not unexpected after the decision was made to have this tour under the Managed Event Environment (MEE) protocol, rather than the strict Bio-safe Environment (BSE) Protocol as was previously the case," Manjira said.

"This is in line with the country's policy in revoking the Disaster Management Act concerning the pandemic and the huge mental strain that a bubble environment induces," he added.

Also, this is the first-ever instance of a side opting for Covid-19 substitutes in international cricket.

The proliferation of COVID-19 in the South African camp and the subsequent Covid replacements did not have any bearing on the match as the Proteas thumped a hapless Bangladesh unit by a whopping 332 runs.

Bangladesh's second innings proved to be an exact carbon copy of the Durban Test, where they were rolled over by the spin-duo of Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer.

A similar sort of thing happened at Port Elizabeth on the 4th day as Maharaj once again claimed a seven-wicket-haul, with Harmer wiping out the rest.

Maharaj finished with figures of 7/40 in 12 overs as Bangladesh were shot out for a mere 80 in just 23.3 overs.

Thanks to a commanding win in PE, South Africa wrapped a successful summer of Test cricket, which saw them beat India 2-1 and Bangladesh 2-0 at home and eke out a draw 1-1 in New Zealand.