Cricket South Africa It recently announced its lineup ICC Champions Trophy 2025, is planned to be held in Pakistan and UAE.
A well-established balance between experience and young talent can be seen in the South African squad. The team will be led by an experienced publicist Temba Bavuma who have already taken the Proteas to the final ICC World Test Championship (WTC) against Australia. However, South Africa are poised to win their first ICC trophy before the WTC finals and break away from their reputation of packing major ICC tournaments throughout the history of cricket.
South Africa’s run in ODI World Cup 2023
South Africa got off to a decent start ODI World Cup Held in India in 2023. The Proteas finished second behind India in the group stage with 7 wins and 2 losses. However, they faced Australia in the semi-finals of the tournament and lost to the then 5-time world champions by 3 goals. Thus, their long-held dream of winning a major ICC trophy failed to materialize. The Australians would go on to defeat the winner of the second semi-final. India and won the prestigious title for a record 6th time.
Keeping the memories of that failed campaign in perspective, South Africa have made a few changes to their limited-overs bid to make a strong case for the Champions Trophy this year. So here are 5 South African players who played in the ODI World Cup 2023 but failed to make the Champions Trophy 2025 squad.
Also read: Cricket South Africa announces squad for Champions Trophy 2025; Enrich the Return of Nortje and Lungi Ngidi
5 players who will not play for South Africa at Champions Trophy 2025
1) Quinton de Kock:
With 6,770 runs for South Africa in the ODI format, the ace wicketkeeper was the third highest run-scorer in the ODI World Cup 2023 with 594 runs. The 32-year-old even retired from Test cricket in 2021 to focus on the limited overs format. However, there is uncertainty surrounding whether he wants to play for South Africa again. De Kock has not played international cricket since South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. He was also not part of the South African squad for the recent white-ball series against Pakistan and India.
2) Gerald Coetzee
South Africa’s young pace sensation Gerald Coetzee has been ruled out of South Africa’s squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 due to a groin injury that has plagued him since the first Test match. Sri Lanka in Durban. The 24-year-old has previously been ruled out of the Test, ODI and T20I series against Pakistan and the date set for his return to South Africa is yet to be announced. Coetzee was South Africa’s star performer with the ball during the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he took 20 wickets in 8 innings.
3) Andile Phehlukwayo
Andile Phehlukwayo is among the South African players who have shown promising signs in first-class cricket but failed to make a mark for the Proteas. He was part of South Africa’s ODI world cup team as a promising youngster with proven all-round skills in South Africa’s domestic cricket. However, the 28-year-old never made it big in the ODI format. Was recently given an opportunity against Pakistan in the ODI series but failed miserably. Phehlukwayo scored a total of 883 runs and 97 wickets in 85 ODI matches for South Africa.
4) Reeza Hendricks
Reeza Hendricks has been an important part of the South African team in the T20I format. However, his ODI commitments are still uncertain. The 35-year-old last played 50-over cricket against Ireland in October 2024 and has since focused on playing T20 cricket for the Proteas. Hence, it seems highly unlikely that Hendricks will feature for South Africa again in the ODI format.
5) Lizaad Williams
Lizaad Williams was part of South Africa’s ODI squad against Ireland in October 2024, but the pacer missed the opening few games for SA20 side Joburg Super Kings. The 31-year-old has been ruled out of South Africa’s squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy due to injury concerns and an unknown recovery period.
