AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn to return to Test cricket against Zimbabwe

South Africa have a tight schedule coming up. They have India visiting them within weeks and then major tours all over the world await. They need to get into the groove to keep the form going. The Proteas have been faring without their stars. AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn have not played any Test cricket since 2016.

The former captain injured his elbow in January of 2016 and Steyn injured his shoulder in November of 2016. The captaincy of the Proteas since then has been with Faf du Plessis. He has done a wonderful job until now but having stars like ABD and Steyn will just strengthen the team further. That said, Steyn and de Villiers are eyeing a return to Test cricket.

Zimbabwe to South Africa

Zimbabwe will get a taste of day and night Test cricket for the very first time. The game is scheduled from December 26th to 29th. It will be a four day Test and a first scheduled four day Test match since 1972/73. It was Pakistan that played New Zealand in a scheduled four-day Test.

The match is to be played in Boland Park in Paarl. The management is going to use this Test match to prepare de Villiers and Steyn for the upcoming visits and travels. Steyn has only played five T20s for the Titans in the last year and ABD took a break from Test cricket, so it will be interesting to see how they perform in the Test match.

Also, it will be the very first Test match under the floodlights in South Africa. The Paarl Test is going down in the history as one of those. Zimbabwe and South Africa have only played eight Test matches since 1995/96; when they first played each other. It is the first time that Zimbabwe will tour South Africa since 04/05, despite being neighbours.

The likes of Hamilton Mazakadza, Brendon Taylor, and captain Graeme Cremer were a part of the Zimbabwean team on the last tour. South Africa have only AB de Villiers in their current squad who played for them back then.

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (C), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn