Kallis and Amla to miss rest of ODI series

Hashim Amla will miss the remainder of the ODI series against Sri Lanka to be with his wife, who is expecting their first child. Jacques Kallis has been rested while Rory Kleinveldt has been ruled out due to injury.

Alviro Petersen and Colin Ingram replace the two senior batsmen and Vernon Philander, who's been impressive in Tests, has been picked in the ODI squad in place of Kleinveldt.

Amla's been in excellent form in the series; he scored a century in the first ODI in Paarl and followed up with a half-century to help South Africa take a 2-0 lead in East London.

The decision to rest Kallis is part of Cricket South Africa's rotational policy, though it is yet unclear about when Kleinveldt is likely to return after a "relatively long-term injury".

"Hashim Amla has been forced to stand down because of family responsibilities while Rory Kleinveldt has a relatively long-term injury," Andrew Hudson, the CSA selection convenor, said in a release.

Petersen has been in good form, with runs behind his back for the Lions in the Franchise 1-day Cup, the domestic List A tournament, where he was the top scorer, and a century against Sri Lanka in the third Test in Cape Town, where he was picked at the expense of Ashwell Prince.

Ingram, too, has had a good run, with consecutive hundreds for Warriors in the SuperSport series and 521 runs at 57.88 in the Franchise 1-day Cup. Both are making a comeback to the ODI side after extended breaks. Ingram last played in the World Cup and Petersen hasn't played an ODI for South Africa since May 2010.

Philander finished the Sri Lanka Test series with 16 wickets in two matches and grabbed 14 in the series prior against Australia. He last played an ODI for South Africa in August 2008.

"Both Petersen and Philander showed excellent form in the recent Test series against Sri Lanka and they have also represented the Proteas in the ODI format before so I don't anticipate their having any problems adapting to 50 overs cricket," Hudson said. "Ingram has also been in top form in domestic cricket and was a member of the squad that went to the World Cup last year after making a century on debut against Zimbabwe.

"Although we are sad to lose players such as Amla and Kallis I see this as an opportunity to try out our options. There are still places up for grabs in our ODI squad and I must say I am excited to see the talent coming through our development pipeline."

South Africa squad: AB de Villiers (capt & wk), Johan Botha, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.