Dale Steyn named in South Africe World Twenty20 squad

Dale Steyn has been named in South Africa's squad for the ICC World Twenty20 although he still has to prove his fitness.

Steyn missed most of the Test series against England with a shoulder injury and has also been absent during the ongoing one-day international series, which the tourists lead 2-1 going into the final two games.

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But South Africa are hopeful he will be 100 per cent in time for next month's tournament in India, and Steyn could make his return during their T20 series against England and Australia, which will utilise the same 15-man squad.

The party includes Rilee Rossouw and Dale Wiese, who missed South Africa's most recent Twenty20 games in India because of injury, and there is also a place for spinner Aaron Phangiso, who has been preferred to Eddie Leie.

Cricket South Africa selection convener Linda Zondi said: "We have a lot of experience in this group with 10 of the players having played in the last World Twenty20 in 2014, also on the sub-continent.

"The inclusion of Aaron means that we have all our spin bowling options covered with he, Imran Tahir and JP Duminy offering the different varieties. Left-arm spin bowlers tend to play big roles under Indian conditions.

"Dale's return is very good news. He brings tremendous experience and leadership to the team, not to mention his skills as the outstanding fast bowler of his generation." 

South Africa will take on Australia as well as England during their preparation for the tournament, and coach Russell Domingo hopes they need little more than fine-tuning.

"We take some confidence from our T20 series wins against Bangladesh and India and kept relatively the same players who have had success on the sub-continent," Domingo said.

"We have been playing good T20 cricket of late and this is our opportunity to showcase our skills at a world event. The upcoming T20 games against England and Australia will be the ideal platform for us to fine-tune some combinations and to hopefully gain some winning confidence ahead of the tournament next month."

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (captain), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.