4. Marco Jansen
The towering 6’8″ pacer made his bow in the ipl in 2021, and from there, he has now emerged to become one of the most reliable and accurate pacers in the latest version of the Proteas pace quartet. Jansen is the kind of bowler who will stifle you till you can’t take it anymore. With his height and his high release point, he is often the bowler who will make things happen for the Proteas. With his batting down the order another massive advantage, he is a total captain’s player if there was one. The gentle giant of this South Attack will be one of the key people to look out for, because he is worth the wait.
5. Rassie Van Der Dussen
VDD is as old-school as they come. He looks like a batsman who always has the situation of the game down pat, and then models his game according to it. He will bat you into submission, and then all of a sudden, he flicks a switch, and just like that the gears switch. This quality was evident in the odi series against England, where he got to 100+ without hitting a single six. He is the glue that holds the flair players together, and then he adds his own game to make it a truly balanced unit.
6. Nicholas Pooran
Being a captain is a big thing, but becoming the captain of a side that is in constant flux and upheaval all the time is a different challenge altogether. But that does not stop Nicholas Pooran from believing that he can turn the fortunes of this dormant cricketing giant. Pooran leads by example with the bat, with his destructive ability in the middle order the perfect foil for the likes of Shai Hope, and Shamarh Brooks at the top. With the focus on West Indies qualifying directly for the 50-over World Cup, they will need Pooran to step up both in terms of batsman as well as captain.