South Africa’s Hashim Amla is likely to miss the second Test against Pakistan, due to the imminent birth of his second child.
The world number one ranked Test batsman has left the United Arab Emirates and returned home and is now expected to miss the second Test, which gets underway on October 23. Despite Amla’s absence, South Africa have confirmed they will not be calling up a replacement.
A South Africa team statement read: “Amla flew back to South Africa on Friday morning for the birth of his second child. His wife is expected to give birth soon.”
In the first Test in Abu Dhabi, Amla showed his composure and skill to score 118 in the first innings, although that was not enough to prevent Pakistan from cruising to a surprising seven-wicket victory.
The 30-year-old is confident that his side can bounce back in the second Test, although he is focusing his attention on the arrival of his new child and the waiting game ahead.
He said: “It’s a waiting game in many respects, a bit of a Test match actually. I’ll just have to see what happens. Whenever it does happen, soon after that I’ll try and get back here.
Speaking about the cricket, Amla added: “We know where we went wrong and this team is without a doubt a fantastic team. We take a lot of pride from our performance and this loss hurt, we set high standards for ourselves.
“We’ll probably have a few net sessions, but the biggest change will be mental.”
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