South Africa, India and England have announced squads for the T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies from June 1-29.
South Africa have included fast bowler Anrich Nortje and the uncapped duo of batter Ryan Rickelton and seamer Ottniel Baartman in their 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies from June 1-29.
Nortje, 30, has not played a T20 international for over a year due to persistent injuries, and his return in the Indian Premier League this season has seen him record a woefully high economy rate of 13.36 runs per over across six matches.
Rickelton, who can also keep wicket, has been rewarded for his fine form in SA20 this year, where he was the leading scorer with 530 runs at an average of 58.88, while Baartman took 18 wickets in eight matches in the T20 competition.
Aiden Markram will captain the squad, which also includes power hitters Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Quinton de Kock and Tristan Stubbs.
India has included wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant in their 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States in June.
Pant was involved in a near-fatal crash in December 2022 that required him to have multiple surgeries and he missed last year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as India’s 50-overs World Cup campaign on home soil.
The Delhi Capitals skipper was not the only player rewarded for his IPL form, as Chennai Super Kings batsman Shivam Dube also made the squad after scoring 350 runs in nine matches.
India will be led by Rohit Sharma as they bid for a second title in the June 1-29 tournament following their triumph in the inaugural edition in 2007.
Meanwhile, Paceman Jofra Archer was recalled to England’s squad for the defence of their T20 World Cup crown after a year out of action.
The 29-year-old, who has endured a string run of injuries since his international breakthrough in 2019, has not played competitive cricket for a year following a right elbow injury.
The squad will fly to the Caribbean on May 31 ahead of their opening group match against Scotland in Barbados on June 4.
The squad will also take on Pakistan in a four-match T20 series starting in Leeds on May 22.
South Africa T20 World Cup squad
Aiden Markram (captain), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi and Tristan Stubbs.
India T20 World Cup squad
Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge)
England T20 World Cup squad
Jos Buttler (capt, wk), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood
