Thandi Tshabalala (born 19 November 1984) is a South African

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who plays

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

as a specialist

off spinner Off spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners bowl with their right-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery is called an off break, which spins from left to rig ...

. He was first called up to the South African team in February 2006, as he made the squad for their Twenty20 International against

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, but did not play. In July, he was again selected, this time in a 14-man squad to tour Sri Lanka, but was not picked for the final eleven in the first Test.

UCBSA Cricket South Africa aka CSA is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South ...

chief of selectors,

Haroon Lorgat Haroon Lorgat (; born 26 May 1960) is a South African businessman and chartered accountant. He has been CEO of the International Cricket Council and Cricket South Africa. Personal life and education Lorgat is of Indian descent, his family orig ...

, said it was "very unlikely that he

ould Ould is an English surname as well as an element of many Arabic names. In Arabic contexts it is a transliteration of the word wikt:ولد, ولد, meaning "son". Notable people with this surname include: English surname * Edward Ould (1852–190 ...

play in the first Test." and that he was there to "gain exposure and experience." Tshabalala has won two Man of the Match awards in his 52 official matches for Eagles and Free State,Matches in which Thandi Tshabalala won an award (3)
from CricketArchive, retrieved 30 July 2006 both in limited overs games. The first was in the opening match of the 2004–05 Pro20 series, where the Eagles beat the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

by 70 runs and Tshabalala took two wickets, both bowled, and ran out

Hashim Amla Hashim Mahomed Amla OIS (born 31 March 1983) is a South African former international cricketer who captained the national side in Tests and ODIs. Amla holds the record for being the fastest ever to score 3,000, 4,000, and 7,000 ODI runs, joint ...

; the second was in the final Standard Bank Cup game of the 2005–06 season, where Tshabalala took four for 24 in nine overs as the Eagles defended 225. The Eagles made it through to the knock-outs, and won the tournament, with Tshabalala providing a similarly economical spell (9–0–24–2) in the final, where the Eagles beat the Titans after bowling them out for 142 in 42.3 overs.

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*
Gibbs at No.4, Tshabalala to wait for debut
from Cricinfo, retrieved 30 July 2006. 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Welkom South African cricketers South Africa One Day International cricketers Knights cricketers 21st-century South African sportsmen Free State cricketers {{SouthAfrica-cricket-bio-stub