Poor form puts Amla’s World Cup place in jeopardy

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s selectors will reveal on Thursday whether veteran batsman Hashim Amla will be part of the country’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Amla, 36, is one of South Africa’s all-time great One-day International players but his recent form has been poor, while increasing age has meant that he has slowed down in the field. Amla scored only 51 runs in four innings in South Africa’s shock Test series loss against Sri Lanka earlier this year and did not play in the first three One-day Internationals against the tourists, although Cricket South Africa stressed he had not been dropped.

He was due to play the final two one-day games against Sri Lanka but withdrew because his father was seriously ill. After more than a month out of cricket, Amla returned for the Cape Cobras franchise in a domestic Twenty20 competition in early April but his first three matches yielded only 28 runs.

He showed signs of promise for the Cobras on Sunday with an innings of 32 — his joint-highest score in any form of cricket since a one-day series against Pakistan in January. With captain Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller and JP Duminy all seemingly certain of selection, there is probably room for only two more top-order batsmen in a 15-man squad.