New Delhi: South Africa’s T20 World Cup preparations have been marred by injury problems. Ryan Rickton Tristan Stubbs was substituted Tony DeZorzi and Donovan Ferreira. David Miller missed the series against West Indies but is considered available for the 20-team tournament co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.But there was considerable confusion in the bowling department. Ottneil Baartman was left out of the squad despite taking five wickets, including four wickets, in three matches against India in December.
The decision to exclude Bartman became even more controversial when he claimed he was unaware of the decision. This is in stark contrast to Luan Dele Pretorius, who despite not being in the squad, received a call from selectors.Push boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!The conflict escalated further when selectors convener Patrick Moroney said he had called Bartman after he was left out of the squad. At the same time, he did reveal the decision to exclude Bartman.
South Africa’s Ottneil Baartman bowls during the third T20 cricket match between India and South Africa in Dharamshala, India, Sunday, December 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
“Unfortunately, in the makeup of the team, there’s no room for (Longi) Ngidi and Bartman. They bowl at more or less the same pace and have the same change,” Morrone told SportsBoom.“So, you have to select a player and O’Tneil was very clear in our conversation on January 1 that he is part of the substitute list and he will be monitored. If the need arises then we will push his button if the need arises.”Even though his legs were tied very tight later in SA20, Good luck Already done. The same goes for 19-year-old Kwena Maphaka, although he took just 4 wickets in 8 games in the recently concluded SA20 campaign.Bartman, on the other hand, emerged as the leading wicket-taker in the SA20 competition. The 32-year-old took 20 wickets in 9 games at an average of 13.55 and an economy rate of 9.13. He scored a hat-trick in five attempts against Pretoria Capitals, his only strike of the season. Ngidi, by the way, is another player to score a hat-trick this season.A string of wickets in the fourth edition made him the highest wicket-taker in SA20 history with 61 wickets – just one ahead of Marco Jansen – at an average of 15.15 and an economy of 8.32.Voices questioning Bartman’s exclusion from the T20 World Cup squad have found a familiar tone in former South Africa seamer Dale Steyn.The Proteas legend, who worked with Bartman for three seasons as bowling coach at Eastern Cape Sunrisers, wrote on social media: “He is the highest wicket-taker in SA20, won the league twice and reached the final, and let me remind you, this is a comparison [competition] There are 4 international players (usually batsmen) and all PROTEAS! He’s number one,” Steyn wrote on Twitter. “That’s top quality but he will be sitting at home this 2020/20 season.“
A late bird from the ostrich capital of the world
In a country where cricket is a rich man’s game and players are drafted from elite private schools and academies, Bartman, 32, is an outsider. He was born in the small town of Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo region, nicknamed the “ostrich capital of the world”.One of two children raised by a single mother, Bartman grew up without a father figure. His mother, Maria, was the breadwinner and ensured that neither child went to bed with an empty stomach.
New Chandigarh: South Africa’s Ottneil Baartman bowls during the second T20 international cricket series between India and South Africa at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, New Chandigarh. (PTI Photo/Shiva Sharma) (PTI12_11_2025_000514A)
“My mother was both a mother and a father. I never had a father figure. I met my father, but he was never around for me,” Bartman has previously said.“Raising me with nothing and having me here means the world to me. Without her, I wouldn’t be here.“It means a lot to me. Even though she had nothing, she made it all work. I can’t help but get emotional, but it’s awesome to be able to raise two kids the way she did. The most important thing to me right now is that I know I’m playing for my family.”His first introduction to cricket was at the local Bridgeton Sports Ground, where his cousin Douglas played for the United Stars Cricket Club. Television didn’t exist until Bartman was a teenager, and it was Bartman’s only tryst with the sport. Everything he learned off the field was replicated back home, on the streets, with his friends.The dream of playing for the Proteas meant he needed to leave Oudtshoorn, where top-flight domestic cricket remains absent. After playing provincially for the South West and Northern Cape, he moved to the Free State before joining the more favored Dolphins in KwaZulu-Natal.
South Africa’s former center fielder Ottneil Baartman celebrates with his teammates after taking the wicket of India’s Washington Sundar during the first ODI cricket match between India and South Africa at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi, Jharkhand. (PTI Photo/Kamal Kishore)(PTI11_30_2025_000306B)
It took ten years of hard work in domestic cricket to gain recognition and be selected for the national team. In 2021, he was called up to the South Africa Test team, but did not make the match squad. In the same year, he became the inaugural recipient of the Makhaya Ntini Cricket Power Award.The right-arm seamer will finally get his due in May 2024 against the West Indies. Soon after, he made his ODI debut against Ireland in October. Despite participating in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Bartman has played only 23 international matches, taking 30 wickets at an average of 23.2.Although he has spent most of his time on the sidelines for the Proteas, the 32-year-old has excelled in SA20 and T20 franchise cricket. Paarl Royals paid R5.1 million (Rs. 5.1 million) for him in the 2025 SA20 auction. Elsewhere, he has featured in the IPL with Delhi Capitals, the England T20 Blast with Hampshire and as an injury replacement for Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket (MLC).Now that he is a father, his goal is the same as his mother’s – to put family first.
India’s Kuldeep Yadav (left) is congratulated by South Africa’s Ottneil Bartman after winning the first ODI cricket match of the series between India and South Africa at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi, Jharkhand. (PTI Photo/Kamal Kishore) (PTI11_30_2025_000571B)
“My daughter, my son, my wife are all home now. I guess they’re screaming when they come home now, but yeah, it means a lot to my family,” he said after scoring a hat trick and a whistle this season.“I’ve barely seen them in the last four months. Obviously, I was in Pakistan and then I went to India from there and then straight from there, it was the SA20.“Then, probably from here, I go back to the domestic team. So, probably it’s them (his family) because they sacrifice a lot. I don’t see them that often, but, yes, they support me off the pitch.”
Huzhuman likes Mohammad Shami
Ironically, Bartman, who is part of South Africa’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad, was rewarded for his 18-wicket haul in the second season of SA20. Bartman had yet to feature for his country when the squad was announced, but he took five wickets in the match, including four against the Netherlands. His shining moment came against Nepal, where he successfully defended his title by seven points in the final round.Since then, he has played just 11 matches in the South 32 T20Is, taking 13 wickets in the process. Unlike Ngidi and his colleagues. Bartman prides himself on being slower and having a diverse arsenal, but Bartman relies on his ability to let the ball slide through him.In the Indians’ case, it would have been a different story if the ball had come faster, stayed low, and gone under the batsman’s swing arc.
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Steyn early on likened Bartman to an Indian seamer who, despite doing his job effectively in domestic cricket, also fails to get his dues.“He reminds me of Mohammad Shami, his seams are down, his wrists are good, his lines are very straight, so he rarely bowls a short wide cut, or a ball that falls down the leg. Similar to Anrish Nortje, his lines are barrel straight, his seams are very good. There are few issues with him, he is easy to coach, he is very easy to zone in a particular area, which is important when you are playing at the highest level,” said the legendary bowler.Unfortunately, all this means nothing as South Africa sit at home with their best white-ball bowlers heading into the T20 World Cup.
