South Africa will miss the services of Vernon Philander for the Bangladesh Test series which is all set to start. Philander, who was ruled out of the first match, is currently recovering from a back problem which he suffered during the away series against England.
Philander, earlier during the England series received criticism from Graeme Smith on the former's fitness. However, he has taken it in the right spirit. Philander told, "It's international sport, you'll always find criticism. As long as it's constructive, then I'm all for it. You've got to take it on the chin."
Philander has also had a talk with his captain Faf du Plessis. He quipped, "Myself and Faf had a good chat afterwards, the way the two of us nailed down things was quite constructive at the end of the day. As long as you're open and honest with each other, that's the key thing. He made his view clear and obviously I made mine clear to him. As long as we understand each other, we've got a road to walk together."
The South African bowling attack looks slightly handicapped with the likes of Dale Steyn, Chris Morris and Philander missing out - all to injuries. Steyn hasn't played competitive cricket since November 2016 and his absence has been felt in the African team's line-up. However, du Plessis is confident of his premium bowler's comeback and believes that he still has a lot to offer to the national team.
"Dale has been away from the squad for a while. He still got a few boxes to tick. We wanted him to be around the group again. We want to make sure he still feels important because he is a very crucial part of our team and we also wanted him to help out with the younger bowlers," said du Plessis.
