Playing in IPL will get our guys ready for T20 WC, says Boucher
Sep 15, 2021
Colombo [Sri Lanka], September 15 : South Africa head coach Mark Boucher feels that playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will hold his players in good stead for the upcoming T20 World Cup set to be played in the UAE.
Boucher's remarks came as South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in the third T20I to win the three-match series 3-0 on Tuesday.
"We've spoken to the guys going to the IPL. They need to stay quite disciplined and realise we want to peak at the right time as a unit. They'll be picking up bits of information about playing in those conditions that will really get them ready for a big tournament and if they manage themselves well and get some good time in the nets and get used to facilities it will stand us in good stead," ESPNcricinfo quoted Boucher as saying.
"It will be a great experience as long as guys look after themselves and peak at the right time," he added.
Talking about South Africa's series win over Sri Lanka, Boucher said: "This team realised that we are definitely not the finished product, so there's a lot of things we speak about. We had a good chat about the lessons we've learnt and where we want to go as a team. We tied the record for the most T20 wins by a South African team."
"That was one of the records that we were playing for. We understand that going into a World Cup each game is as important as the others and this becomes a habit. This is just part of the growth of the team," he added.
South Africa men's cricket team finished their tour of Sri Lanka in glorious style when they won the final T20 International match in Colombo on Tuesday evening by 10 wickets and made a 3-0 clean sweep of the series.
It was the Proteas' third victory by this margin, the previous ones being against Pakistan and Zimbabwe, while the unbroken partnership of 121 between Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks was a South African record for any wicket partnership against Sri Lanka.
The performance also enabled the Proteas to equal their record of seven successive victories in this format, first achieved in 2009 when they beat Australia twice at home and then won five matches in a row in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in England.
