ODI series victory against India will give South Africa a lot of confidence, says Temba Bavuma
The South African cricketer Temba Bavuma says in a press conference that an ODI series victory against India would boast their confidence more after the Test series victory by 2-1.
The South African cricketer Temba Bavuma says in a press conference that an ODI series victory against India would boast their confidence more after the Test series victory by 2-1.
The last time India toured South Africa, they won the six-match series by 5-1, which was also their first-ever ODI series win at their land.
“We will have to get things right in the next ODI series against India. I’m not too worried about what happened in that 2018 series. I’m more concerned about establishing our own style of play and implementing our strategy to good effect.
“An ODI series win against India would give us a helluva lot of confidence, and some momentum ahead of the games to follow,”
Bavuma was quoted as saying by ‘Daily Maverick’.
Bavuma, who was a part of the Proteas’ squad in the recently-concluded three-match Test series, feels that their campaign in the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup at UAE helped in changing the perception about South Africa’s white-ball squads.
In the recently concluded event in the UAE, South Africa had won four out of their five group matches, and only to miss the semi-finals based on poor net run-rate due to their loss in the tournament opener against Australia.
“Perceptions are changing about this South African white-ball team. In the past, it was said that we lacked the ability to take on spin and that we struggled in overseas conditions. I feel like we proved a lot of people wrong at the T20 World Cup.
“We’ve just got to keep building towards that next T20 World Cup in Australia, which will require another shift in mindset.”
He further added that the ODI squad must look at the T20 World Cup squad of 2021 to gain some potential.
“Perhaps we should take heart from what the T20 side has accomplished in recent times. That team didn’t place much emphasis on results, but rather on the process.
“We really came to grips with how we wanted to play. There was a lot of energy and intensity, especially with regard to our fielding,”
he said.
“Then we start to win consistently. Since the beginning of the West Indies series last June, we’ve won 13 out of 16 T20s. It’s something we want to replicate across the formats. If we bring the same energy to our ODI approach, we will build more confidence and momentum, and the big results will come.”
