Batsman Ab de Villiers and pacer Dale Steyn will make their long-awaited return to the South African test squad for the day/night four-day test match against Zimbabwe to be played at St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth, from December 26-29.

De Villiers’ who is recovering from an elbow injury played his last test against England in January 2016, while Steyn who has 417 test wickets to his name, has been recovering from a shoulder injury sustained while playing against Australia in Perth in November last year.

A third player, Vernon Philander, is also back in the Proteas squad after missing the most recent series against Bangladesh following an injury picked up during the winter tour to England.

Steyn joins the south African fast bowler aggregation of philander, Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel .

Following the Zimbabwe match, South Africa will next face the number 1 ranked test side India, before meeting Australia, who have just regained the ashes in their current series against England.