Duanne Olivier was recovering from Covid-19 and had suffered a mild hamstring strain according to South African selection convener Victor Mpitsang explaining why he was omitted for the first Test against India at SuperSport Park.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 29-year-old's non-selection was one of the big talking points of the first day on Sunday when India piled up 272 for three, with KL Rahul scoring 122 not out.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Olivier was the form bowler of the South African domestic season leading up to the Test series, with 28 wickets at an average of 11.10 in four first-class matches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With his ability to intimidate batsmen with fast, short-pitched deliveries, Olivier had been expected to play a key role in the Test team, especially after Anrich Nortje, the country's fastest bowler, was ruled out of the series with a hip injury.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Olivier took 48 wickets in ten Tests before joining English county Yorkshire on a Kolpak contract in 2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With the Kolpak system coming to an end, he once again became available for South Africa.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
There was no explanation for Olivier's absence when the team was announced, nor did Olivier indicate any possible impediment to him playing when Cricket South Africa released a recording of comments made by him last Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But Mpitsang was quoted on the ESPNCricinfo website on Monday as saying illness and injury had meant Olivier was not able to prepare fully for the first Test.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Duanne Olivier is healthy and well but did return a positive Covid-19 test result a number of weeks ago, which forced him to quarantine and took time away from his training,” Mpitsang told the website.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"His workloads were not where the selection panel would have wanted them to be by the time he entered the team bubble ahead of the first Test match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n