Survival of the fittest is the lesson Magala must learn

On Wednesday, Proteas bowling consultant Charl Langeveldt said this about Sisanda Magala's death-bowling ability: "I think everyone can bowl yorkers, but for me and what I've seen, a guy like Sisanda Magala is the most confident.

I always look at a guy in terms of how they deal with pressure. He seems to be calm and collected."

This from SA's best-ever death bowling expert spoke volumes about Magala's excellence in this critical area of bowling expertise.

The chunky 29-year-old Warriors seamer has proven this time and again, but has been consistently flagged for fitness issues.

Magala, Jon-Jon Smuts, Tabraiz Shamsi and Lungi Ngidi were part of a Cricket SA (CSA) strength and conditioning camp in January. Magala didn't meet the requirements, but the rest did.

Magala also had to prove his fitness before the first England T20 in East London, which he couldn't and was dropped.

He was kept with the squad for the rest of the series, but has been released back to the Warriors to work on his fitness.

CSA's independent selector Linda Zondi said Magala's ability warrants selection, but there's fitness standards he has to meet.

"He wasn't the only one with a fitness issue, but his ability warranted that he be picked and he offers a critical skill. Going public about the fitness was about all of them and not just Magala. He just didn't pass and being public about it is a positive - we hope that he understands he needs to work hard," Zondi said.

"Being kept in the team was a sign that he's needed in the shorter formats, but he's got certain fitness norms and standards that he needs to meet. You can't blame the system because in him, a certain and critical skill has been identified, but you need to be fit. Even when he failed, he remained with the team and worked with them."

Warriors fitness trainer Drikus Saaiman said Magala's stocky build doesn't help him much when he picks up weight.

He's a hard worker and he's put in the mileage, and he's already lost a fair bit of weight

—  Warriors fitness trainer Drikus Saaiman

Saaiman, who said the national team's fitness norms and standards are in line with franchise and international practice, believes it was a fair call from the national team management to pull Magala up for fitness, so long as the practice is applied to every team member.

"What the national team did is fair in terms of drawing the fitness line in the sand because there are certain standards that you need to meet when you play at that level.

"However, they need to be fair to everyone and all the players have to be subjected to the same standards from a fitness level," Saaiman said.

"He's a hard worker and he's put in the mileage, and he's already lost a fair bit of weight. Our biggest task though has been recovery because of the amount of cricket he plays. He often finds himself playing cricket throughout the year and hardly gets to rest. It was only in this winter when he got some time off from the game."