5 players who featured in the 2023 ODI World Cup for South Africa but failed to make the 2025 Champions Trophy squad – Quinton de Kock to Gerald Coetzee

Cricket South Africa they recently announced their team for ICC Champions Trophy 2025, intended for maintenance Pakistan and UAE.

A well-made balance between experience and young talent can be seen in the South African team. The team will be led by an experienced campaign manager Temba Bavuma who has already led the Proteas to the final ICC World Test Championship (WTC) against Australia. However, South Africa are looking to win their first ICC trophy before the WTC finals and move on from their reputation of stuffing major ICC tournaments throughout their cricketing history.

South Africa’s appearance at the 2023 ODI World Cup

South Africa got off to a decent start ODI World Cup held in India in 2023. The Proteas were second in the group stage behind India with 7 wins and 2 losses. However, they faced Australia in the semi-finals of the tournament where they were defeated by the then 5-time world champions by 3 wickets. Thus, their long-standing dream of winning the big ICC trophy could not come true. The Australians would go on to beat the winner of the other semi-final, India and a record 6th time to win the prestigious title.

Keeping the memories of this unsuccessful campaign in perspective, South Africa have made several changes to their limited overs claim to stake a solid claim to the Champions Trophy this year. So here are 5 South African players who played in ODI World Cup 2023 but failed to make the Champions Trophy 2025 squad list.

Also read: Cricket South Africa announces 2025 Champions Trophy squad; Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi return

5 players who will not play for South Africa at the 2025 Champions Trophy

1) Quinton de Kock:

The leading wicket-taker with 6770 runs in the ODI format for South Africa was the third highest run-scorer in the 2023 ODI World Cup with 594 runs to his name. The 32-year-old has even retired from Test cricket in 2021 to focus on the limited overs format. However, there is uncertainty over whether he wants to play for South Africa again. De Kock has not played international cricket since South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2024. He was also not part of the South African squad in their recent series against Pakistan and India.

2) Gerald Coetzee

South Africa’s young pace sensation, Gerald Coetzee has been dropped from South Africa’s 2025 Champions Trophy squad due to a groin injury that has plagued him since the first test match against Sri Lanka in Durban. The 24-year-old was earlier ruled out for the Test, ODI and T20I series against Pakistan and the exact date of his return to the South African team is still unknown. Coetzee was South Africa’s star with the ball during the 2023 ODI World Cup where he took 20 wickets in 8 innings.

3) Andile Phehlukwayo

Andile Phehlukwayo is one of the South African players who showed promising signs in first-class cricket but failed to make a mark for the Proteas. He was part of South Africa’s ODI World Cup squad as a promising youngster with proven all-round ability in South African domestic cricket. However, the 28-year-old could never make it in the ODI format. He recently got his chance against Pakistan in the ODI series, but the all-rounder failed infamously. Phehlukwayo scored only 883 runs and took 97 wickets in 85 ODIs for South Africa.

4) Reeza Hendricks

Reeza Hendricks has been an important part of the South African team in the T20I format. However, his ODI commitments are still uncertain. The 35-year-old last played 50-over cricket against Ireland in October 2024 and has since focused on playing T20 cricket for the Proteas. It therefore seems unlikely that Hendricks will ever feature for South Africa again in the ODI format.

5) Lizaad Williams

Lizaad Williams was part of South Africa’s ODI squad against Ireland in October 2024, but the pacer missed the first few games for his SA20 side, the Joburg Super Kings. Due to injury problems and an unknown recovery time, the 31-year-old has been left out of South Africa’s 2025 Champions Trophy squad.

Also read: Cricket Australia announces 2025 Champions Trophy squad; Pat Cummins will lead the team in Pakistan