South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma says the upcoming T20 series against India will be an opportunity for him to identify players for specific roles for the World Cup, which will be held in Australia later this year. The South African T20 side last competed in November at the World Cup in Sharjah and with the next World event slated to begin in October, Bavuma is keen to marshal his troops.
“The conditions in India don’t accurately simulate conditions in Australia. In saying that, there’s still a lot of benefit from playing. Any type of competitive cricket will be good for us,” Bavuma said during a virtual media interaction.
“We’ll be using these games really to familiarise ourselves again with how we go about playing cricket. Getting that right language that we speak amongst ourselves, really getting guys understanding what their roles are within the team.” The visitors will also be fielding a few new faces in a bid to find an able opening partner for Quinton de Kock. “We’ve got a couple of new faces within the T20 space. Opportunities will be given to those guys to see what role they can play and what value they can add to the team.” The Indian team will be without many senior cricketers but Bavuma expects the rubber to be very competitive. With India’s major stars like skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah rested for the series, the hosts are being led by KL Rahul and will feature some new faces including pacers Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh.
