Nortje, de Kock in South Africa World T20 squad

Anrich Nortje will make his international comeback after a nine-month absence at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Nortje, who has been in action at IPL 2024, has been named in South Africa’s 15-player squad that will be led by Aiden Markram.

Opening batter Ryan Rickelton and seamer Ottniel Baartman– both standout performers at this year’s SA20– have also earned call-ups and could earn their first T20I caps.

Rickelton was the leading run-scorer in the SA20 and the second-highest run-scorer at the recent CSA T20 Challenge, and will likely partner Quinton de Kock at the top of the order.

The T20 World Cup could also be de Kock’s last international appearance- he retired from ODI cricket last year but was persuaded to stay on in T20Is for this event. De Kock is no longer centrally contracted by CSA as he pursues opportunities in T20 leagues.

White-ball coach Rob Walter confirmed that despite poor form in his last three tournaments, de Kock has been picked on historic performances.

Quinny, we’ve seen him do it time and time again for us,” Walter said. “Reeza [Hendricks] has been a star performer for us in T20 cricket, was a standout in this domestic CSA T20 challenge again, and Ryan Rickelton has had two outstanding competitions really where he’s played the brand of cricket that we’re looking to play. And then we’re going to have Aidan Markram and that’ll be the top order. It’s mostly a performance-based decision and from Quinton’s point of view is just a real knowledge of what he’s capable of.”

South Africa begin their T20 World Cup campaign on June 3 against Sri Lanka in New York. (Extracted from ESPNcricinfo)