England's full-strength squad poses a challenge for Eoin Morgan to identify the best XI.
With the series part of the build-up to the next year's World Cup in India, Morgan was obviously pleased to have England's full-strength squad available after a home summer where they had to rest players and manage workloads. But with that, has come about uncertainty around who to pick and who to leave out?
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"We don’t know our best XI yet," Morgan told reporters before the series opener. "There are probably seven or eight guys who are strong candidates to be in the first XI. But with a full-strength squad here there is so much to discuss around team selection."
"To start with, you need to try and figure out who your best six or seven batsmen are, then try and get them in the roles that best suit them and the team, and that gives you the best chance of winning the games."
A puzzle to be solved includes all-rounders. With Ben Stokes set to return, whether England will opt for another such utility option at No.7 is unclear. If they do go down that route, whether that player will be an in-form Sam Curran or Moeen Ali is another mystery.
Conditions in South Africa being completely different to the ones they can expect in India next year will only make it tougher for England to identify a balanced XI capable of producing results everywhere.
"Looking ahead to the World Cup we will probably need the option of two spinners. Then again, if we have the luxury of two all-rounders in the side (in these conditions) in Ben and Sam, that is also huge," Morgan said.
"Winning at the moment would be great, but it is more important that we get the players’ roles right and they get comfortable in them. Then the results will look after themselves."
(Inputs from Reuters)