* De Villiers doubtful against Irish
* Tahir likely to miss out too
(Updates with injury details)
By Sudipto Ganguly
KOLKATA, March 14 (Reuters) - South Africa's leading batsman AB de Villiers suffered a thigh strain during their World Cup win over India but is not ruled out for Tuesday's match against Ireland, a team spokesperson said.
The right-handed player has been the most successful batsman for his country in the tournament and is placed third with 318 runs in the list of highest scorers so far.
He has notched two hundreds and a half-century from four matches.
The batsman had a scan in the morning and has not been ruled out yet.
"It is a grade one strain to the left quad muscle. The medical team are taking it one day at a time ... he has not been ruled out," the South African team spokesperson told Reuters in a text message.
It remains to be seen, however, if the South Africans risk their most prolific scorer for Tuesday's match.
De Villiers needed a runner during his 52-run knock against India on Saturday during South Africa's thrilling three-wicket win against the co-hosts.
South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl hoped that the injury was not "major".
"I don't think it's major in terms of that he will be out of the tournament," the coach told reporters.
The 27-year-old has been in sensational form, hitting back-to-back centuries against West Indies and the Netherlands, but the additional wicketkeeping workload has been taking a toll on his back.
He handed over the wicketkeeping duties to Morne van Wyk in South Africa's last two matches -- against England and India -- to help his back recover.
No comments:
Post a Comment