WTC Final: Kagiso Rabada included in South Africa's squad

South Africa have included Kagiso Rabada in their squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s from June 11-15 following the fast bowler’s return from a suspension having tested positive for a banned substance.

Rabada spent a month on the sidelines at the Indian Premier League after testing positive for a recreational drug at this year’s SA20 competition.

Rabada to lead Africa’s pace attack

He is likely to lead the fast-bowling attack with seamers Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi and Dane Paterson also in the squad. Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy are the two specialist spin options.

Captain Temba Bavuma heads the list of batters along with Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and David Bedingham, while Kyle Verreynne is the specialist wicket-keeper in the squad.

“Over the past 18 months, we’ve worked hard to build a competitive red-ball unit,” coach Shukri Conrad said in a statement from Cricket South Africa.

“A key part of our success has been consistency in selection, and we’ve stuck with the core group of players who have been part of this WTC cycle. We’ve selected a balanced squad for the conditions we expect at Lord’s.”

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South Africa finished top of the WTC table to earn their place in the final. They will play a four-day warm-up fixture against Zimbabwe in Arundel from June 3-6.

South Africa squad:

Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne.