Temba Bavuma has recovered from an elbow injury and has been included in the squad to play two Tests against Sri Lanka as South Africa look to secure a place in next year’s WTC finals. Bavuma, the South Africa captain, has not played since October 4 when he injured himself diving to make a field during an ODI against Ireland in Abu Dhabi.

South Africa Test Squad: Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne.

Consequently, he missed the Lions’ first two first-class matches and will not be involved in the third against Western Province at the Wanderers on Thursday as South Africa enter a two-day camp in Pretoria on the same day. They will travel to Durban on Saturday, where the first Test begins next Wednesday.

Also in the mix are Kagiso Rabada, who was rested for the T20I series against India that ended on Friday, and Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee – who, in the India series, made international returns from conditioning breaks. Jansen and Coetzee last played Tests in January and December against India.

This was South Africa’s most recent home series and Dean Elgar’s last before he retired. Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger, who played in that rubber, are injured. The select losses from that series compared to this one are Keegan Petersen and Zubayr Hamza. Ryan Rickelton, Dane Paterson and Senuran Muthusamy are in the 14, which is one less player than usual, according to a statement quoted by Shukri Conrad, “allowing players on the fringes of the selection the opportunity to play first-class cricket for their respective province . teams”.

Should South Africa win both Tests against the Lankans and the two they will play at home against Pakistan in December and January, they will qualify for the WTC final at Lord’s in June.

Program:

First Test: Kingsmead, Durban, 27 November – 1 December

Second trial: St George’s Park, Gqeberha, December 5-9