http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 still a doubt for first Test – Cricket News Update
South African ODI skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
The wicket-keeper injured his finger during the Champions League T20 campaign with Indian Premier League outfit, Royal Challengers Bangalore which forced him to miss out on his new role of leading the side in the T20s and ODI formats.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/HM-Amla-c1557 took over the captaincy on interim basis, and after losing the first T20, the Proteas fought back to share the spoils, however, they were made to pay in the three limited overs matches, losing the series 2-1, courtesy of a below-par batting performance.
In the absence of De Villiers, the team is missing fire-power in the middle order and their woes were fully capitalized by a strong Kangaroos unit.
He was expected to be fit before the start of the Test series; however, the player himself has admitted that the safer bet for him will be to feature in the second five-day game.
"The finger is healing well and the specialist is happy with my progress, but I will probably have to wait for another week or two," he told Rapport."It's still not certain if I will recover in time for the first Test. I really hope so, but a safer target
is probably the second one."
With the first Test starting on November 9th, there is still plenty of time for the 27-year-old to recuperate and the possibility of him playing could be heightened according to team manager and doctor, Mohammed Moosajee, who said that the ODI
skipper will meet a specialist before the team makes a final call.
"There will be more X-rays done on the finger, after which we will have a better idea on his availability," said Moosajee.
De Villiers’ record for the Proteas has been nothing short of impeccable where the player has featured in 66 Test matches, having scored a total of 4741 runs at an immaculate average of 47.41.
If he does not recover, the team will have to look for replacements with left-hander, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jacques-Rudolph-c1619 the most likely candidate to slot in after some impressive showings in the domestic circuit.
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