Tony de Zorzi’s recovery setback: Why was he excluded from the Proteas squad?
Tony de Zorzi was excluded from the Proteas T20 World Cup squad due to a hamstring injury, despite showing promising recovery progress on social media, with Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs stepping in as replacements. Picture: AFP
Image: AFP
It did not come as much of a surprise last week when Tony de Zorzi was dropped from the Proteas T20 World Cup squad due to injury, but a look at his social media seems to indicate the opposite.
De Zorzi had been a controversial inclusion after being picked for the squad as he had picked up a hamstring injury in early December.
Given that the injury occurred around December 3, it was believed that De Zorzi had enough time to recover (between four and eight weeks) and prove his fitness by the time the tournament starts on February 7.
However, Cricket SA announced that De Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira were left out of the squad last week as Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs were drafted in as replacements.
De Zorzi’s Social Media Activity and Fitness Update Amid Proteas Squad Changes
Meanwhile, it appeared as if De Zorzi had progressed on schedule as the Proteas top order batsman is extremely active on social media as he posts regularly on Instagram and YouTube about his journey as a professional cricketer.
On January 24, De Zorzi posted a video on Instagram where he did a number of sprints, sideways shuffles, and some backwards running. This showed his running ability and agility with the sideways and backwards running, and it all appeared perfectly healthy.
The timing of his post was also interesting as it came two days after his name had been removed from the Proteas squad.
Of course, the selectors would have been well within their right to look elsewhere due to De Zorzi’s lack of game time while injured.
However, the official line is that he was ruled out of the World Cup due to injury.
It will come as a heavy blow for De Zorzi, but he will be sure to give his followers regular updates as he will turn his focus back to simply playing cricket again soon.
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