SA20: 'Ottneil Baartman has showed plenty of character' - JP Duminy on bowler missing T20 World Cup spot

New Delhi: The noise around for Ottneil Baartman’s omission from South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad are growing louder. A couple of days after Dale Steyn questioned Baartman’s exclusion from the Aiden Markram-led side, his former teammate JP Duminy has shared his opinion on the ongoing debate around the speedster.

Duminy believes Baartman’s response to being left out of the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup says more about the fast bowler than any selection call ever could.



“To come off the back of not getting selected and then put in the performances he has speaks volumes about his character,” JP Duminy said while addressing the media in a session facilitated by SA20. “He’s not letting the negativity around it affect his performances. Instead, he’s using motivation and encouragement to keep delivering.”

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“It’s always a tough one to make a late call like that,” he said. “The more important angle is preparing as if an opportunity might come, and being ready if it does.”

Baartman, who part of the Paarl Royals, has taken 11 wickets from 4 matches and is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing fourth edition of the SA20. Yet, he has missed the bus for the T20 World Cup to be played in India and Sri Lanka next month.

Legendary Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn, who was Baartman's bowling coach for the first three season of the SA20 at Sunrisers Eastern Cape, urged the selectors to have a second look.


"He's the highest wicket taker in SA20, won the league twice and made a final, let me remind you, that's a comp that has 4 INTERNATIONAL players (often batters) plus all the PROTEAS! He's number 1," Steyn posted on X. "Thats TOP quality, but he'll be sitting home for this years 20/20 WC."

Yet, despite those positives, Baartman’s absence remains a reminder of how fine the margins are at the top level. Duminy was careful not to speculate on the selectors’ reasoning, acknowledging that such decisions are rarely understood in full from the outside. “Yes, there will be disappointment and questions,” he said, “but the focus has to stay on what you can do right now for the team you’re playing for.”

For Baartman, Duminy stressed, control is limited to effort and focus. “As a cricketer, you can only control what you put into your performances. What we’ve seen so far is that he’s done that exceptionally well, and with real consistency.”

Duminy’s comments came at the halfway mark into the SA20 with the T20 World Cup on the horizon. He also highlighted the significance of form players peaking at the right time. The return to rhythm of Quinton de Kock (205 runs from 5 matches @68.33 with a strike rate of 173.73), he felt, was a major positive. An in-form de Kock, Duminy said, “boosts the morale and confidence of the South African public and, more importantly, the team.”

"If you put your Quinton de Kock hat on, obviously missing out on international cricket for a period of time and the competitor that he is, he certainly wants to getting the backing now from the selectors and the team, he certainly would want to perform in a way that warrants that selection," he said on De Kock.


"And if you have an in-form De Kock, it always boosts the morale and the confidence of the South African public and more importantly, the South African team. So, long may it continue going into a very important T20 World Cup."

He was equally optimistic about the rise of Marco Jansen (4 wickets), describing the left-armer as a genuine all-round package in the making.

Duminy noted that South Africa’s tradition of impactful all-rounders makes Jansen’s development particularly significant, especially in white-ball cricket, where balance and flexibility often define tournament success.


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