India A Tour Of South Africa 2021: Pieter Malan To Lead South Africa A Against India A

India A and South Africa A will play three four-day matches between November 23 and December 9.

Updated on: 11 November 2021 11:23 am

Pieter Malan will lead the 14-member South Africa A squad that will take on India A in a three-match series, beginning November 23 in Bloemfontein. (More Cricket News)

The teams will play three four-day matches during the tour.

All matches will be played at Mangaung Oval. The first four-day match will be played from November 23 to 26, followed by the second game from November 29 to December 2, and the third match from December 6 to 9.

“Test cricket remains one of CSA’s key focus areas, along with ensuring that the format continues to thrive and hold relevance in our country. It is therefore vital that a steady stream of talent continues to emerge from our High Performance programme," Cricket South Africa Convenor of Selectors, Victor Mpitsang, said in a statement on Thursday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic saw the disruption of the South Africa A team’s fixtures and CSA is pleased to see the return of content for this programme. We are looking forward to more tours for this team in particular, as the A Team programme is a crucial one to CSA’s overall pipeline strategy.

Following the India A vs South A series, senior national teams of both countries will get into action. As such, Cricket South Africa is giving an opportunity to South Africa A squad members to make the most of the series against India A and make a case for promotion to the senior South Africa team.

“The senior South Africa and India teams will be clashing this summer here at home, so this is an ideal opportunity for players with Proteas ambitions to put their hands up and make a case for themselves.

“The Panel and I wish Pieter and coach, Malibongwe Maketa everything of the best ahead of this very important series," Mpitsang added.

Earlier on Tuesday, the BCCI picked India A squad for the South Africa tour.

Squads:

India A: Priyank Panchal (c), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Baba Aparajith, Upendra Yadav (wk), K Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla

South Africa A: Pieter Malan (c), Sarel Erwee, Dominic Hendricks, Raynard van Tonder, Sinethemba Qeshile, Senuran Muthusammy, Marco Jansen, Migael Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, Lutho Sipamla, Glenton Stuurman, George Linde, Jason Smith, Tony de Zorzi