De Kock, Nortje, Rabada to lead SA challenge against India

CAPE TOWN: Stalwarts Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada will be at the forefront of the South African challenge when India begin their three-Test series against the hosts at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on December 26.

The controversy over his pull-out minutes before South Africa's game against the West Indies in the T20 World Cup in the UAE notwithstanding, de Kock has been included in the Test side being led by Dean Elgar, with Temba Bavuma as his deputy.

De Kock was one of a number of South Africa players who had not been taking the knee ahead of recent internationals, including the team's T20 World Cup tournament-opener against Australia, with some players kneeling, some raising a fist and some standing.

Cricket South Africa had also issued a statement during the T20 World Cup saying that they had taken note of de Kock's "personal decision" not to take the knee in support of "Black Lives Matter".

"Cricket South Africa (CSA) has noted the personal decision by South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock not to 'take the knee' ahead of the game against the West Indies," CSA had said in a statement then.

"All players had been required, in line with a directive of the CSA Board, to 'take the knee' in a united and consistent stance against racism. This is also the global gesture against racism that has been adopted by sportspeople across sporting codes because they recognise the power of sport to bring people together," it had added.

On Tuesday, CSA, while announcing the 21-strong Test squad, said that the, "National Selection Panel has gone with the same core group that successfully toured the West Indies in June of this year and have included three others." IANS

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