Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced South Africa’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. Coming into the event as the last edition’s finalists and reigning World Test Championship (WTC) champions, expectations will be high for the Proteas.
Surprisingly, South Africa hasn’t picked either Tristan Stubbs or Ryan Rickelton. The former played against India, while the latter has gone out of favour in the aftermath of Quinton de Kock‘s decision to reverse his international retirement decision.
Reeza Hendricks and Ottneil Baartman, who were also part of the India series, aren’t included either. Jason Smith, who has played just one T20I for South Africa, has returned to the side for the first time since that one-off Namibia T20I.
“We have had to make some big calls, but we feel this group is the strongest and has every chance of succeeding in India and Sri Lanka. We have assembled a world-class squad with some of the finest and most experienced players in the game, together with some of the best T20 youngsters coming through,” selection convener Patrick Moroney said in a statement.
Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have both returned. The former couldn’t play in India due to injuries, but has been featuring for the MI Cape Town in the SA20 2025-26. Nortje recently made his T20I comeback after dealing with injuries and has been performing well for Sunrisers Eastern Cape.
South Africa squad for T20 World Cup 2026
Aiden Markram (c), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Jason Smith
South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2026 schedule
| Date | Opposition | Venue | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 9 | Canada | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 7:00 PM |
| February 11 | Afghanistan | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 11:00 AM |
| February 14 | New Zealand | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 7:00 PM |
| February 18 | UAE | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | 11:00 AM |
