Duanne Oliver, Lungi Ngidi Replace Dale Steyn for Second Test

Steyn was ruled out of the series after damaging a tissue on his left heel during the opening Test.

South Africa have added fast bowlers Duanne Oliver and Lungi Ngidi in place of veteran pacer Dale Steyn for the second Test against India beginning 13 January at Centurion. They have been brought as dual replacement for the injured Steyn.

Oliver made his Test debut in 2016-17 and has played five Tests against Sri Lanka, England and Bangladesh while Ngidi is yet to make his Test or ODI debut, but has played three T20Is.

South Africa defeated India by 72 runs in the first Test of the three-match series in Cape Town on Monday, 8 January.

Returning to action after over a year due to a shoulder injury, Steyn damaged a tissue on his left heel during the second day of the opening Test in Cape Town. He left the field three balls into his 18th over as he felt a pain on his left heel.

Though he was unable to take the field to bowl, the 34-year-old cricketer was seen padded up and ready to bat on Day 4.

We said if by any chance AB is still there, Dale can just go and just stand there and hopefully AB can smash a few sixes. The plan wasn’t to get him to bat and injure him more.

Faf du Plessis, South Africa Captain

"He was padded up before we spoke about this to him. I feel incredibly bad for Dale. He worked for over a year. He was challenged through periods where he started and got injured again, and then started and got injured again." On the bowling front, du Plessis felt Steyn was back to his best.

“It was great to see Dale like he didn't go anywhere. He was back to his best. I was standing at slip and we felt like he could nick guys off at anytime. You were just happy to see Dale Steyn back on the park, so this is a huge step back for him.

"Luckily it's not his shoulder again. The foot, or injury that he has, is something you probably can get over a lot quicker and we are looking forward to bringing him back in the fold when he's fit again."

South Africa Squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Deal Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyne, Quinton de Kock (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Duanne Oliver, Lungi Ngidi.

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