Dane van Niekerk 'dropped' because of fitness issues

Dane van Niekerk (Source: Twitter)

What came as a shock to many, South African women team's all-round superstar Dane van Niekerk was dropped from the T20 World Cup squad on fitness basis, confirmed Clinton du Preez women's selection convener.

Sune Luus has been handed over the responsibility of leading the 15-player squad side that features Chloe Tryon, Shabman Ismail and Marizanne Kapp.

"Dane was given an extensive opportunity to meet the minimum criteria for the fitness benchmark. She recently did another fitness test and did not meet the minimum criteria and that's why she has missed out,"

She has been sidelined for quite some time due to an ankle injury, but post that she could not gather the required fitness to make herself eligible for selection. Proteas' selection committee have been quite strict on the matter and they have decided to go ahead without her. 

"Dane did not meet the minimum requirement for the 2-kilometre time trial. The management assisted her in trying to get there but she did not meet the minimum requirement. The skill set of Dane as a cricketer will always be missed on the cricket field. We have reminded her of that. We also appreciate the effort she tried to put into meeting the fitness level."

van Niekerk's absence will be a major void to fill as her experience could have been quite handy, especially in home conditions.

Her records speak for herself as she has thumped 1877 runs in the shortest format from 77 matches that includes 10 half-centuries.

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