Ashwell Prince: Proteas edging closer to their 2027 Cricket World Cup blueprint

Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince reckons the One Day International side is close to understanding the right starting XI ahead of the home 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

South Africa has fielded different teams this year in One Day cricket, from the recent Australia and England tours.

Key players have been left out to rest as the start of the defence of the World Test Championship got underway last month in Pakistan.

With South Africa having fielded different players for the Australia, England and Pakistan tours, coach Shukri Conrad and captain Temba Bavuma have brought back the big guns, including the likes of Aiden Markram and Aiden Markram.

The first ODI match of the series in India is set to get underway on Sunday in Ranchi.

The likes of Nqaba Peter and Sinethemba Qeshile, players who stepped into the ODI squad during the Pakistan tour in the absence of the main players, have been left out.

Batting coach Ashwell Prince believes the squad is getting closer to having a settled group after the rotation of players during the recent tours.

“In terms of where the team is, I think at the moment, obviously the squad has focused predominantly on Test match cricket and as far as white-ball cricket is concerned, I think a lot of the focus is on T20 with the World Cup coming up soon,” Prince told reporters on Saturday.

“So, with that being said, we've been able to try different combinations in the 50-over space.

“We still have a bit of time to get closer to what a final squad would look like. I'd say we're doing pretty well in both batting and bowling departments. If there's one area that we probably could improve on, it’s the bigger moments, tighter moments, clutch moments in matches — playing them better.”

South Africa are fresh from a dominant 2-0 series sweep of India earlier this week, where the wickets were predominantly spin-friendly.

However, heading into the One Day Series, the visitors are expecting good batting wickets, with the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma available for selection.

The Proteas understand that chasing scores is usually the order of the day in India in ODI cricket. However, the visitors back themselves to create pressure with big scores up front with the bat.

“I think we have to assess the conditions, but our homework tells us that a lot of dew is expected,” Prince said.

“Teams tend to prefer to chase the scores down if they win the toss.

“Having said that, sometimes in ODI cricket, if you get a good pitch early on and you post a massive score, it can affect the chasing team in a way where they feel they have to start at a high tempo — and with that you can lose wickets chasing.

“So, having said that, if we bat first, we'll need to post a formidable score to apply some pressure.

“No, I wouldn't say it's extra pressure. I think as South Africans touring India, it's always exciting.

“When you add those two names to the line-up, we expect to see a full house tomorrow, and that's exciting.

“I think, obviously, two vastly experienced and dangerous players, and they can cause a lot of damage to us. But we tend to try to focus on what sort of damage we can cause the opposition rather than focus too much on how they can hurt us.

“Having said that, they're obviously world-class players and dangerous players, match-winners, but the focus is more on what our strengths are, how we can impose those, and how we can create pressure by playing our game.”

The first game of three matches is set to get underway in Ranchi at 10am on Sunday.