AB De Villiers' injury worries continue. The South African Test and ODI captain has been ruled out of the home and away series against Australia due to an elbow injury that will need surgery next week.
De Villiers missed Sunday's one-off ODI against Ireland in Benoni. The world's No. 1 ODI batsman suffered the elbow injury in August and did not play in two Test matches against New Zealand later that month.
"AB has failed to come through his fitness test this morning," Mohammad Moosajee, SA team manager said.
"Although the physio strapped his elbow while he was batting and he did have some relief with some shots, the elbow pain has not gone away completely. With that in mind, we are scheduling surgery early next week," Moosajee added.
Beginning September 30, South Africa will play five ODIs against world champions Australia. The ODI series will be followed by three-Test series in November. One of those tests will be a day-night affair.