South Africa’s limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma has stated that the ODI series win over India will give them a lot of confidence.
The Proteas recently defeated India in three-match Test series by 2-1 in a memorable win and thus they will look to continue the same form in the 50-overs format.
Bavuma was in good form in the Test series as he scored 221 runs in three matches at an average of 73.67 and he would aim to continue the same. The home side was able to come up with a collective effort in the Test series and winning against India will take South African cricket in the right direction.
“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’.
On the other hand, South Africa had also come up with a good performance in the T20 World Cup but could not make it to the semifinal stages. The Proteas had won four out of their five Super 12 matches but could not make it to the last four because of NRR.
Bavuma added the team was able to prove that they can bat aggressively play against spin.
“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.”
“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.”
On the other hand, India will be led by KL Rahul in the ODI series and the visitors will look to bounce back after losing the Test series.
The first ODI will be played at Paarl on January 19.
