Follow UsIndia will lock horns against South Africa in a five-match T20I series starting from June 9 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The skipper of the Proteas side, Temba Bavuma, feels the upcoming series will provide them with an ideal opportunity to test new players and try different combinations before the World Cup.
The iconic event is slated to commence later this year in Australia, and the right-handed batter will be keen to put the best foot forward and help South Africa carve their name in the record books.
In a virtual press conference ahead of the series, he said, "The conditions in India don't accurately simulate conditions in Australia. In saying that, there's still a lot of benefit from playing, and any type of competitive cricket will be good for us."
"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, he further added.
One of the glaring issues for South Africa in their last World Cup campaign was the lack of opening partnerships. While Quinton de Kock is set to shoulder the responsibility of the side, Bavuma will hope for the other players to step up and build a formidable batting unit.
"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."
"If I look at our bowling, there is more solidity and clarity. With these games, we'll be trying to find those combinations, or particularly for who partners up with Quinton upfront."
"One, two or number three positions are probably where we'd like to get a lot more clarity. But I think everything else will kind of will continue as it is, and we've got a nice set of all-rounders.
"In terms of the series, we are looking to win but also achieve all the other objectives as well," he said.
On the other hand, Team India will be without several of their key players who opted to take a break after gruelling two months of the Indian Premier League.
The Men in Blue will be led by KL Rahul and will feature some new faces, including pacers Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh. Despite the lack of big names, Bavuma expects the series to be highly competitive.
"It's obviously a new-look Indian side. A lot of guys who have done well in the recent IPL have been given opportunities. From us, as a team, we wouldn't be looking at it any differently. We don't really see it as taking on a B side. We have played against the Indian T20 side, and we'll still be as motivated as ever. The competitiveness will be there," he said.
"The attitude, the mindset of the Indian team, in the last couple of years, has changed. It's guys who play cricket hard, who play very competitively. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are not there, but the Indian fighting spirit will still be there."
"We don't expect them to take it easy on us. We don't expect it to be easy on us. We still expect it to be tough, and we'll be approaching it in that manner," he further added.
The 32-year old also believes that South Africa will be ready for the challenge possessed by spin twins of Indian cricket, Yuzvednra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
The duo will set foot for this series riding high on confidence after their remarkable display in the IPL and will be keen to cement their place in the squad for the World Cup.
"It will be a challenge. We've played against them a couple of times, and one hopes that we have a better understanding of conditions here in India. The guys are individually speaking about them. They have individual ways of approaching spin and how they can be successful.
"For the younger guys, it'll be important how the others share that knowledge. The way that we played slow bowling over the last 18 months or so as a group gives us a lot of confidence and belief that we can dominate spin bowling and different types of bowling," he concluded.
(With inputs from PTI)