Van Niekerk, who broke her ankle in January 2022, did not meet Cricket South Africa's fitness standards. Sune Luus will captain the side in her absence
Dane van Niekerk will not represent South Africa at the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup after being excluded from their 15-strong squad.
The 29-year-old, who broke her ankle in January 2022 and has only played a handful of matches since then, did not meet Cricket South Africa's fitness standards. According to ESPNcricinfo, the board requires players to run a 2km time trial in nine minutes and 30 seconds; van Niekerk was 18 seconds over the limit.
Van Niekerk, who has scored 1,877 runs and taken 65 wickets in 86 T20Is, had previously been omitted from South Africa's squad for the ongoing tri-series against West Indies and India.
She is the second player to fall foul of CSA's fitness requirements in recent months, with Lizelle Lee retiring from international cricket in July 2022 after being dropped from the national side for failing a body composition test.
Lizelle Lee retired from international cricket in July 2022 after being dropped from the side for fitness reasons [Ryan Pierse/Getty Images]
Sune Luus will captain South Africa [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
In van Niekerk's absence, Sune Luus will captain the side while Chloe Tryon has been appointed vice-captain.
The squad is otherwise as expected, with Marizanne Kapp, Laura Wolvaardt, and Shabnim Ismail among the high-profile players hoping to deliver a world title on home soil.
Taking to Instagram following the squad announcement, van Niekerk described herself as "absolutely BROKEN".
Women's selector, Clinton du Preez, said: "Dané was given an extensive opportunity to meet the minimum criteria, or the fitness benchmark for eligibility into the World Cup. She recently did another fitness test and unfortunately did not meet the minimum criteria, and therefore she's missed out. It's purely based on the not meeting of the fitness criteria that she's missed out."
South Africa have been placed in group A alongside Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh and will begin their campaign against Sri Lanka in Cape Town on February 10.
South Africa squad: Sune Luus (c), Chloe Tryon (vc), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Laura Wolvaardt, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Delmi Tucker, Annerie Dercksen
Reserves: Micaéla Andrews, Tebogo Macheke, Tumi Sekhukhune
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