Vernon Philander to give the Bangladesh Test series a miss

South Africa’s fast bowling all-rounder Vernon Philander has been ruled out of the home Test series against Bangladesh. Initially, he was expected to be fit to take the field for the second Test which is scheduled to begin on October 6. But his inability to recover from his lower back injury has further delayed his return to cricket.

Earlier, team manager Mohammed Moosajee had confirmed that Philander will appear for the second round of the first class matches but due to his non-recovery, Philander is now expected to take part in the fourth and fifth round of the domestic four-day competition for his team the Cobras. The 32-year old might be fit to mark a Test return in the Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe.

Philander was injured in England

Philander sustained a lower back injury while playing in the third Test against England at The Oval when he dived to stop the ball. Due to the injury, he had to miss the fourth and final Test held in Manchester. The seamer has spoken to skipper Faf du Plessis about his availability and said that both are on the same page.

“It’s international sport, you’ll always find criticism. As long as it’s constructive, then I’m all for it. You’ve got to take it on the chin,” Philander was quoted as saying by Independent Media. “Myself and Faf had a good chat afterwards, the way the two of us nailed down things was quite constructive at the end of the day. As long as you’re open and honest with each other, that’s the key thing. He made his view clear and obviously I made mine clear to him. As long as we understand each other, we’ve got a road to walk together.”

South Africa has plenty of replacements

In Philander’s absence, South Africa will look towards Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada to lead the attack against the visiting Bangladesh side. All-rounder Chris Morris is also unavailable for the 2-Test series hence the third seamer role might be taken by any one of Wayne Parnell, Duanne Oliver or Andile Phehlukwayo.

Bangladesh are a completely different side since their last tour in 2008. They recently beat Australia in a Test and drew the Test series in Sri Lanka 1-1. Although they are without their star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh still has depth in their side to take on South Africa. The first Test will begin on September 28 at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.