The Proteas face Pakistan in a three-match ODI series starting on Friday in Centurion. IOL Sport's Zaahier Adams takes a look at five Proteas to keep an eye on during the series.
Temba Bavuma
The Pakistan series will be Bavuma's first assignment as national limited-overs skipper. All eyes will be focused on the diminutive batsman in terms of he leads the team. Although major changes will take time, there is great anticipation in regards to the style of cricket the Proteas will adopt under Bavuma. Equally, the focus will be even more on his batting form now to see whether he can handle the responsibility of leading the team and fulfill his role as a senior batsman in the team.
Quinton de Kock
"Quinny" will only be around for the first two matches before he jets off to India to help the Mumbai Indians defend their IPL crown. Having endured a wretched run of form of late, De Kock will be looking to get amongst the runs again now that the burden of captaining has been lifted off his shoulders. Proteas fans will hope that they see the return of the free-spirted care-free De Kock and not a player that is going to sulk because he has been replaced at the helm.
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Aiden Markram
The Titans star returns to the Proteas limited-overs set up for the first time since the disastrous 2019 World Cup. Everyone is aware of Markram's supreme talent and he showed it oncr again in the 4-Day Domestic Series with a bucketfull of runs. However, the time is fast approaching that he starts delivering on this immense potential on the international stage for he is a much better player that his current ODI average of 27 suggests.
Andile Phehlukwayo
There was a period that everything Phehlukwayo touched turned to gold, but the Midas touch has eluded him in recent months. A social butterfly by nature, the bio-secure environments that international cricket is currently being played in due to Covid-19 has not been kind to Phehlukwayo and his performances out in the park have suffered. That's not forgetting that he was among the first Proteas to self-isolate at the beginning of the season. Phehlukwayo has already lost his place in the T20I squad for the Pakistan series. He needs a couple of big performances with both bat and ball to remind everyone of his undoubted quality, especially with Wiaan Mulder breathing down his neck now.
Rassie van der Dussen
South Africa's "Mr Consistency" over a period where many things have gone wrong, Van der Dussen has often been the calming influence in the Proteas dressing room. However, for everything that he has done well, there is still a major obstacle that he has to overcome in international cricket. Van der Dussen has still not scored a century in any format for South Africa despite coming close on more than one occasion. He desperately wants that three-figure score and hopefully it comes in this Pakistan series because it may just open the tap to many more.