Injury-hit Proteas confident of David Miller’s fitness ahead of T20 World Cup

Miller suffered an adductor muscle injury while playing for the Paarl Royals in the SA20 on Monday and as a result, has been ruled out of the T20 International series against the West Indies starting next week.

While Conrad’s squad, announced earlier this month, has been hit with more injuries to Tony de Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira who have been replaced by Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs, he’s crossing fingers for Miller.

"We basically pulled David out of the West Indies tour as a precautionary measure. He had a follow-up scan this morning, which again came back positive from our side.

"Obviously, the medical team would set certain benchmarks that he needs to meet and everyone is optimistic that he will achieve them. That gives me confidence and reason to be hopeful that David will be on that flight to India."

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Conrad was disappointed to lose de Zorzi and Ferreira but was comforted by the quality of their replacements.

Their exclusion had raised eyebrows initially. Although Rickelton’s MI Cape Town did not make the playoffs, he was the standout player for them in the SA20. Stubbs, on the other hand, still has a chance to lead Sunrisers Eastern Cape to their fourth final in as many years should they beat Royals this evening.

While he has recently favoured opening the batting with captain Aiden Markram and Rickelton, Conrad says he will stick with the original plan of pairing the former with Quinton de Kock at the top of the order. 

"Again, we talk about consistency and how we approached things when selecting the side initially. Our opening batsmen will be Quinny [Quinton de Kock] and Aiden [Markram]. I still feel that Aiden is the best at the top of the order, and Quinny does what Quinny does."

Another notable omission from the Proteas squad is Ottneil Baartman, who has had another impressive SA20 season. Conrad admitted that he could have been considered had the list been announced after the tournament, but he made it clear that young Kwena Maphaka remains his preferred choice over the 32-year-old.