The greatest South African XI that never played for South Africa

South Africa has been one of the top cricketing nations in the entire world. The rainbow nation has produced many world-class cricketers like Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Jacques Kallis, Faf du Plessis, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, and many others. 

However, South African cricket has not been able to retain every Superstar born in its country.

Due to various reasons, many cricketers who take birth in South Africa end up representing other nations. There are many current players who have South African origin. Still, they are playing for the other countries at the international level. 

The Business Standard (TBS) takes a look at the greatest South African XI not to play for South Africa.

1)Andrew Strauss 

Strauss was only the 4th batter to score a 100 on Test debut at Lord's and almost went onto become the first England player to hit 2 centuries on debut. Born in South Africa in 1977, he represented England in 100 Tests and 127 ODIs from 2003 to 2012. 

He also captained the England national team in all formats of the game.

2) Jonathan Trott

Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born English former professional cricketer who played international cricket for the England cricket team.

He played 52 Tests and 68 ODIs for England. And he was named ICC and ECB Cricketer of the Year in 2011.

3) Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen is probably the most famous (or infamous) South African cricketer to play for England. 

He played in all three formats for England between 2005 and 2014, which included a brief tenure as captain. He made his international debut against his motherland South Africa. 

He is mostly remembered for his Ashes 2005 campaign that took the whole cricket fraternity by storm. 

He was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

4) Andy Flower

Andy Flower is the greatest batsman Zimbabwe has produced. 

As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years

Andy was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1968.

5) Marnus Labuschagne

Marnus Labuschagne was born in Klerksdorp, a relatively obscure city in South Africa. He moved to Australia with his father in 2004, when he was 10, after his Dad had secured a job in the mining business.

He grew up speaking Afrikaans, which was his mother tongue and learned English after he started attending school in Brisbane.

He has so far played 18 Tests for Australia and has an average of over 60. 

6) Devon Conway

Devon Conway recently made headlines for his record-breaking hundred at Lord's on Test debut for New Zealand.

Born in Johannesburg, he even played for teams line Gauteng and Lions back in South Africa. 

He moved to NZ because he thought he was not making an impact in first-class cricket in South Africa and he wanted to start afresh at the age of 26. 

Three years after leaving South Africa, Conway debuts for New Zealand after dominating first-class cricket.

7) Tony Greig

Tony Greig was an English Test cricket captain turned commentator.

Born in South Africa, Greig qualified to play for the England cricket team by virtue of his Scottish parentage. He was a tall batting all-rounder who bowled both medium pace and off spin. 

He has an average of over 40 in Test cricket for England. 

8) Basil D'Oliveira

Basil D'Oliveira CBE OIS was an England international cricketer of South African Cape Coloured background, whose potential selection by England for the scheduled 1968–69 tour of apartheid-era South Africa caused the D'Oliveira affair.

The trophy of the England and South Africa series is named after him. 

9) Tom Curran

Tom Curran who was born in Cape Town, is the son of former Zimbabwe international cricketer - Kevin Curran.

Tom played junior cricket for KwaZulu-Natal Inland. It was former Surrey captain Ian Greig who saw his talent in school cricket and Surrey invited Curran to play for the second XI. A couple of years later, Curran made his first-class debut.

He made his international debut in 2017 and played in all three formats since then. 

10) Grant Elliot

Grant David Elliott is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played all formats of the game.

Born in Johannesburg, he played 83 ODIs for New Zealand.

Primarily a batting all-rounder, Elliott contributed a man-of-the-match performance to provide entrance to New Zealand's first ever World Cup final, by beating South Africa in 2015.

11)  Neil Wagner

 Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Wagner has played 51 Tests for New Zealand so far.     

The left-handed bowler started his career in Afrikaans High School in Pretoria before shifting base to Otago in 2009. He had a brilliant 2010/11 season, where he was the highest wicket taker with 46 wickets. That got him a Test call up for the West Indies series in 2012.

Honorable mentions- Kepler Wessels, Craig Kieswetter, Jason Roy, BJ Watling, Matt Prior, Colin Munro.