Uncapped Dane Paterson replaces injured Philander in Proteas Test squad

Uncapped South African player Dane Paterson has been named as a replacement for pacer Vernon Philander, who has a fractured finger, for their upcoming first Test of three-match series against Pakistan beginning December 26.

Announcing this, South Africa's selection convener Linda Zondi said that Paterson has been bowling consistently well in the domestic circuit for a long time and that they have been looking at him for a long time.

"We have been looking at him for some time. He is a bowler who has performed on the domestic scene consistently for a long time and he will be our back-up for the first Test," ICC quoted Zondi, as saying.

Like Philander, young pacer Lungi Ngidi is also not a part of the Pakistan Test series as he has been ruled out of action till February owing to a knee injury. Consequently, South African team is left with three pace options in Duanne Olivier, Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn. Paterson is likely to be behind these three in the order of preference.

Paterson has played a total of three ODIs for South Africa scalping four wickets with an economy rate of 6.71. While in T20s, the pacer has picked up 9 wickets with an economy rate of 8.88 in eight matches.