Markram, Nortje, Qeshile earn maiden Proteas T20I call-ups

Markram and Nortje come in having impressed in the recent ODI series in which the Proteas comfortably won 5-0, and they will be looking to take that momentum into the game's shortest format, while 20-year old Qeshile is in line to make his full international bow.

Nortje has been a key bowler for South Africa since making his ODI debut on this tour, notching eight wickets from his four matches at an impressive 18.75.

24-year old Markram returned to the fray in the fourth bout, scoring a career-best 67* in the fifth. His late surge in form could cause a selection headache for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, as this T20I series marks South Africa's last competitive sequence of matches before this summer's tournament.

Qeshile is the newest face in the South African ranks, and the promising young batsman comes in on the back of some accomplished domestic performances. He boasts an impressive average of 48.11 in first-class cricket, while his List A record is also favourable- one hundred and three half-centuries at 41.22 from just 12 games.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) National Selection Panel convener Linda Zondi spoke in praise of Qeshile upon announcement of the squad, while also heralding the latest set of players to have broken through into the T20I side. "Sinethemba Qeshile has had an outstanding rookie season of franchise cricket and is certainly one of the form batsmen in franchise cricket at the moment. He looks a really exciting prospect," he said.

"We have used our T20 International matches in the past as the first port of call to widen the pool of talent. This has resulted in Rassie van der Dussen, Gihahn Cloete, Janneman Malan and Lutho Sipamla being brought through the pipeline with considerable success during the course of the current season."

While a familiar line-up might be present for the first T20I, the Proteas will ring in the changes for the remaining two fixtures, with Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Kagiso Rabada and Lungo Ngidi all rested.

JP Duminy will captain the side for those two games in du Plessis' absence, while Hashim Amla remains unavailable due to personal circumstances.

**Squad (first T20I):**Faf du Plessis (C), Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius , Kagiso Rabada , Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen

Squad (second and third T20Is): JP Duminy (C), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Sinethemba Qeshile, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Dale Steyn, Rassie van der Dussen

Fixtures:First T20I- 19 March, Cape Town
Second T20I- 22 March, Centurion
Third T20I- 25 March, Johannesburg