Sunrisers Eastern Cape's Russell Domingo backs Proteas leadership ahead of T20 World Cup

Amid the questions surrounding the selection of the Proteas squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, former Proteas head coach and current Sunrisers Eastern Cape (SEC) coach Russell Domingo has issued a reminder: selection convenor Patrick Moroney and coach Shukri Conrad have the prerogative to make the decisions they believe will help the team win in India.

Many questions have been raised regarding the timing of the announcement and whether it should have been made after the ongoing SA20, using the tournament as a platform to gauge players' form and readiness.

Having coached the Proteas himself about a decade ago, Domingo highlighted that Moroney and Conrad have every right to make their calls, noting that the national side has performed well under the current leadership.

"Every coach and every selection panel will have their reasons for picking certain players, and that's their prerogative. That team's done fantastically well. There's always going to be players unlucky to be left out. I mean, that's just the nature of it," Domingo said.

"When I coached South Africa, there were players unlucky to be left out of teams and out of squads. That's the nature of it. You can only take 15, and there's always going to be some unlucky players. Things work out. I mean, a couple of injuries... If it's meant to be, it'll be. You might end up being in the squad in any case, so you never quite know how it's going to unfold.

"So, it's hard to criticise any of the coaching staff because they've done an amazing job with the national side, and their performance has been fantastic. So, it's not my place to pass judgement on that."

Cricket South Africa has since made changes to the Proteas T20 World Cup squad. Tony de Zorzi and Donovan Ferreira have been ruled out of the tournament due to hamstring and shoulder injuries respectively.

Batters Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs have been named as replacements. David Miller, after picking up a groin niggle earlier this week, missed the Eliminator in Centurion on Thursday, and it remains unclear whether he will be fit for next month's T20 World Cup in India.

Domingo also acknowledged that the SEC coaching staff have taken lessons from their loss to the Pretoria Capitals in Qualifier One on Wednesday evening. This follows a series of questionable decisions regarding the reshuffling of the batting order during the play-off fixture at Kingsmead — decisions that contributed to the team's defeat.

"We know the areas we need to get better at — coaches as well. Certain things we can maybe do a little bit differently," Domingo said. "So, good lessons for all of us. We know we're a quality side and we've played really good cricket."

Domingo was speaking before SEC faced Paarl Royals in Qualifier 2 at the Wanderers on Friday, with the winner progressing to Sunday's final, where they will go head-to-head against the Pretoria Capitals at Newlands in Cape Town.