South African captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out for the first Test against Bangladesh later this month while he remains on the sidelines to recover from his elbow injury. Bavuma will make the trip to Bangladesh with the rest of the squad next week, but a strain in his left triceps muscle means he will sit out the first Test starting in Dhaka on October 21. Cricket South Africa hopes he will have recovered in time for the second Test, starting on October 29 in Chittagong.
In his absence, Aiden Markram will lead the charge as captain on the first test. While he has previously led South Africa in the white-ball formats, this would be the first time at the helm in Tests.
Bavuma injured himself during a one-day international match against Ireland in Abu Dhabi last Friday when he fell awkwardly while trying to avoid a run-out.
The in-form batter Dewald Brevis has been added to the squad as his replacement. All of 21, Brevis has featured in 12 first-class matches and gave recent glimpses of his form with scores of 49 and 74 in a four-day match for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A last month.
Fast bowler Lungi Ngidi is also included in the squad as the replacement for Nandre Burger, who has been diagnosed with a lumbar stress fracture.
The updated South African squad: Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Kyle Verreynne(wk).
Fixtures:
First Test: October 21-25, Dhaka
Second Test: October 29-November 2, Chattogram
