Published: Mar 09, 2020, 09:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 09, 2020, 09:15 PM (IST)
Visiting teams have often found India a tough place to excel in but head coach Mark Boucher is confident that Faf du Plessis‘ experience of playing in India should bring South Africa some edge during the three-ODI series starting March starting Thursday.
Du Plessis, no longer the captain has played six ODIs in India in which he’s scored 348 runs at a healthy average of 87. His highest score of 133 not out came during the ODI series in December of 2015 which South Africa in fact won 3-2. Add to that the experience of having featured in 71 IPL matches with 1853 runs and du Plessis certainly has no shortage of knowledge about Indian conditions.
“If you go to a place like India you need a bit of a balance of youth and experience. Faf has done really well, full stop for South Africa. In his last knock he got a hundred. He knows Indian conditions really well so just him being around the squad will add a lot of value and experience. Why would you not want to have Faf involved?” Boucher said Sunday before the team’s departure.
“India is going to be a tough test. Different conditions. Lot of guys haven’t played a lot of cricket in India as well. What’s impressive is guys have responded to the messages we have sent out to them on batting and bowling perspectives.”
Janneman Malan was recently added to South Africa’s ODI squad and with plenty of places up for grabs in the middle order, this unit under Quinton de Kock is gearing up for the stiff test ahead. De Kock will have his options close to his sleeves, including du Plessis, whose addition may make it tough for the skipper to get the right eleven.
“It’s a good headache to have. Just him being around the squad will add a lot of value and experience as well. We will look at conditions and then put together combinations. Why you would want to have Faf is because he has done really well in those (Indian) conditions,” Boucher said.
