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Several seasoned campaigners are back in the squad for the first time since the World Cup.
The Proteas will be looking to turn their recent poor T20 form around when they take on India in a four game series getting under way at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday night.
After a stunning run to the T20 World Cup final in the Caribbean in June, which saw the Proteas win eight straight games, they then slipped to a heartbreaking seven run loss against India in the showpiece finale.
That has since sparked a run of just one win in their last six T20s, including a 3-0 series whitewash by the West Indies in the Caribbean, and a one-all series draw against Ireland in the UAE.
The Proteas did however use those series’ to blood new players, with understrength sides playing in both as they also took the chance to rest their best players, who are all back for the coming Indian series.
‘Learnings’
“I am not sure what to put it down to (losing five out of six T20s). We lost that game (World Cup final) and in the couple of series after that we didn’t have most of the players (available) who played in that game,” said Proteas top order batter Reeza Hendricks at a press conference on Wednesday.
“So I don’t exactly know what it is, but we obviously gave opportunities to some new players over the past couple of (T20) series. Unfortunately we didn’t get the results that we wanted. But I think there are a lot of learnings we took out of those tours.
“Coming up against India now is another opportunity to correct that and hopefully get the results that we are after.”
Experienced men return
Hendricks added that the Proteas are happy with the make-up of their squad for the series, with key players such as Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee back, while new faces like Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter and Andile Simelane could get a chance.
“We have a good mix in the squad. There are some new faces as well as some guys who have been around (for a while),” said Hendricks.
“We have picked a lot of fast bowlers. It is nice to welcome back some key names like Jansen and Gerald. So we are looking forward to it against India.
“It is important for the young guys to be exposed to this level over the next couple of days and weeks and if they get a chance I am sure they will be quite eager to get out there and showcase their skills.
“For the more experienced guys it’s another opportunity for them to show what they are about in a big series against India.”