A spate of injuries in the touring party and Hashim Amla’s South African side have been forced to call up fast bowler Marchant de Lange as cover for Dale Steyn.
Steyn picked up a groin strain in the first innings of the Mohali Test and did not come out to bowl for the rest of the match. He also sat out of the rained out fixture in Bangalore this week.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Amla seemed uncertain if the pace bowler would recover in time for the remaining two Tests.
At the moment we only have three fit seamers in Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott, so with Dale still struggling with a groin injury we decided to bring Marchant in as cover so we are prepared in case one of the three breaks down.Russell Domingo, South Africa coach
The uncertainty over Steyn’s fitness of course adds to Amla’s concerns after Vernon Philander returned home right before the Bangalore Test after injuring his ankle in a freak incident while playing football at practise.
A Cricket South Africa media release stated today that while Steyn continued to make progress from a groin injury, sustained during the first Test at Mohali that the visitors lost, he remained a doubtful starter to play in the third match of the series commencing at Nagpur on November 25.
De Lange was part of the Proteas T20 squad that beat India 2-0 in the first leg of the tour, and has played two Tests, the last being against New Zealand in Wellington in 2012.
The visitors are trailing India 0-1 after losing the series opener at Mohali, while the second game at Bengaluru was washed out by rain with no play possible after the first day.
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