World Cup spots up for grabs for South Africa players

South Africa boast a new-look side for the five-match ODI series against India, which starts with the first ODI in Durban on Wednesday. The men who have been stalwarts of the South Africa side over the last few years are either injured, in Jacques Kallis' case, have been dropped, as Mark Boucher has been, or have retired, like Makhaya Ntini. It means that tickets to the World Cup are still up for grabs for the 14-man squad that will face India and an eye must be kept on the fringe-men, as well. There are still some spots in the World Cup squad that need to be claimed.

The back-up opener

South Africa captain Graeme Smith has a habit of sustaining hand injuries when it's time to play a limited-overs series. He was instructed to rest following a bruise on his hand caused by Sreesanth during the Test series, and with five more matches to play against the fiery India seamer, there's every chance that Smith may need some back-up in case of a medical emergency. Robin Peterson has been used in the opening role before. His left-arm spin has not been good enough to keep him in the side as an allrounder but he may come into contention again if Smith becomes an injury worry. Morne van Wyk, who is not in the squad for the India series, but is in the list of World Cup probables, impressed in the Twenty20 match against India, in which he scored 67 off 39 balls, and is another option. van Wyk's case is made stronger by the absence of a back-up wicketkeeper for AB de Villiers.

The No. 6 and 7 spots

These roles must ideally be filled by allrounders, of the big hitting and wicket-taking sort, like Albie Morkel, but he is not in the squad for the India series. David Miller, Colin Ingram and Robin Peterson have been battling it out for the two spots in recent times and will now face an additional challenge from spin-bowling allrounder Faf du Plessis. Ingram has been used at number three in the absence of Kallis, but Smith has made it clear that his role is further down the order. Neither Miller nor Ingram bowl as much as will be needed, which strengthens the case for du Plessis to replace one of them. If there are other bowling options then they could well be space for both Miller and Ingram, otherwise the two may find themselves competing for one of the places, while Peterson and du Plessis battle it out for the other.

The third seamer

Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will lead the attack and the third seamer will have to complement them. Lonwabo Tsotsobe showed good form and skill in the series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, when Wayne Parnell was not match fit. Both are left-armers, but Parnell is seen as the more attacking of the two. They may face a challenge from Ryan McLaren, Rusty Theron or Charl Langeveldt, all of whom are in the preliminary World Cup squad. However, none of those three are in the current squad to play India, which makes the third seamer's spot, essentially, a straight shootout between Tsotsobe and Parnell. Tsotsobe lacks Parnell's pace but has more experience. Both could end up being excluded from the playing XI in the World Cup if South Africa opt for two spinners instead.

The attacking spinner

With the World Cup to be played on the slow tracks of the subcontinent, a vacancy has been created for an attacking spinner in the South Africa team. Roelof van der Merwe fulfilled the role for a while, with his aggressive brand of left-arm spin, but has now found himself on the discards heap. Johan Botha, while often among the wicket-takers, is more of a containing bowler, as is JP Duminy. Imran Tahir is tailor-made for the role but will face opposition from Faf du Plessis. Although du Plessis is known as a batsman, his role as a bowler for his domestic team - the Titans - increased this season. du Plessis has the added advantage of being a good batsman and fielder, departments in which Tahir still has work to do.