De Kock and Babar comebacks in focus as Pakistan, SA begin T20 World Cup build-up

This series sees the return of a star player whose presence in the top order of any T20 squad strengthens it. It also sees the return of Babar Azam.

As Pakistan and South Africa go into the home stretch ahead of next spring's T20 World Cup, it is the presence, once more, of Quinton de Kock, back from ODI retirement and T20I exile, and Babar, back after being dropped from the shortest format, that holds the greatest point of intrigue for both sides.

De Kock never officially walked away from T20I cricket, but he hadn't played for South Africa since their loss in last year's T20 World Cup final, until his return against Namibia earlier this month. Having recommitted to both white-ball international formats, he strengthens a South Africa side that has kept much of its powder dry for this T20I series, resting a number of their premier batters.

Babar's return for Pakistan is somewhat more complicated; less T20 megastar strolling back into the side, more polarising figure returning to plug a vacancy that other candidates have failed to adequately fill. He is yet to play any T20 cricket since the end of the PSL in May, around the time his omission from Pakistan's shortest-form squad began. At the time, coach Mike Hesson had said he needed to work on some aspects of his game and suggested the BBL as a pathway back into the team. Recently, though, some goalposts appear to have been shifted, with Babar, almost by default, finding his way back in without playing any competitive cricket to suggest those issues have been fixed.

Pakistan have prioritised the return of their traditional core back into the T20I fold, with Shaheen Shah Afridi retaining his place and Naseem Shah also making his way back in. There is a surprising level of squad turnover from what was viewed as a largely successful Asia Cup campaign, in which Pakistan came to within one over of walking away with the title. Four of the men who started that final are out of the squad altogether; Sufiyan Muqeem and Hasan Ali, who travelled with that team, have also been discarded.

There is an inherent danger with assuming any squad Pakistan select is indicative of what they are trying to do, what they might do next, or what they might do in the next big tournament they are building towards. Under Hesson, Pakistan have claimed to aspire towards a more progressive approach to T20 cricket. It is, perhaps, what has led to the recall of Abdul Samad as well as the belligerent but so far rarely effective Usman Khan. Hasan Nawaz keeps his place in the squad despite being overlooked for the business end of the Asia Cup for the more circumspect Hussain Talat, who drops out altogether.

At the same time, with Babar's return, and under the captaincy of Salman Ali Agha, it remains to be seen how precisely Pakistan wish to build a T20 innings. In the Asia Cup they suffered on one Sunday by anchoring too much against India, and the following Sunday by ineffective attacking that got them bundled out on the cheap. There may be deeper reasons behind Haris Rauf's omission, though it is hard not to suspect the bulk of the weight of that decision was borne by one poor death-overs spell in the Asia Cup final.

For South Africa, this feels more like a straight bilateral series than a build-up towards a global tournament given the names missing from the squad. Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs were rested while David Miller withdrew with injury. Donovan Ferreira, who has played nine intermittent T20Is, has been handed the captaincy, while, with an all-format India tour looming, Keshav Maharaj has also been rested.

The bowling attack features a mix of the inexperienced and the second-string. Gerald Coetzee's injury means Lungi Ngidi is the only senior established fast bowler in the squad. Corbin Bosch and Nandre Burger bring pace, and George Linde brings experience. Ottneil Baartman, Lizaad Williams and Andile Simelane are the other seam options, while the budding legspinner Nqabayomzi Peter gets a chance for more game time.

South Africa know what it's like to play against Pakistan with a line-up that is decidedly not first-string. They have had to cope with it in just about every bilateral series between the sides over the past half-decade, either because of squad management or commitments elsewhere. Their depth of talent, combined with Pakistan's tendency to play up or down to the strengths of the opposition, has generally guaranteed competitive cricket, and that is unlikely to change.

Despite this series being treated as build-up towards the T20 World Cup, there is too much cricket to be played, and too many opportunities for teams to be further tweaked, for the upcoming three games to feel like they have much resonance for that tournament. But if two flawed and incomplete sides vying for a bilateral trophy is your thing, the next few days should be an entertaining if consequence-free watch.