Cricket is set to make its return in the country of South Africa with the ODI series between Proteas and England. The three-match enthralling series between international heavyweights formally kicks off today (January 27). The much-anticipated series opener is set to occur at the Mangaung Oval of Bloemfontein. The high-octane series will be crucial in both the teams’ preparations ahead of the all-important World Cup 2023 in India.
The T20I World Cup 2022 was Temba Bavuma-led South Africa’s last white-ball assignment. The team suffered an embarrassing exit in the group stage in the exact tournament. Proteas will now eye on getting their team combination right and achieving positive results. Being the defending champions of both the ODI and T20I World Cup, Jos Buttler-led England appears in a comfortable position ahead of the mega ICC event in India later this year.
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
🇿🇦 Let's get the home international season going
⚪️ 🏏 Captain Temba Bavuma has won the toss and will bat first🗒️ Ball by ball https://t.co/KNz7vLGAZd
📺 SuperSport Grandstand 201#SAvENG #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/uysfhhQbny— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) January 27, 2023
SKY, Brevis, and Myself took our game to the next level because of the T20 leagues: AB De Villiers
Meanwhile, South African veteran AB De Villiers has opened up on the Workload crisis that modern-day players are facing while speaking to The Hindu. De Villiers confirmed that he is not a great fan of players choosing selective formats and instead wants clear conversations to occur. He believes that it is currently a global Cricketing issue and the national boards should take things under control following clear communications with the players from early on in their careers.
Highest comms box in the world? Surely @SA20_League pic.twitter.com/3ymb9naLcX
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) January 24, 2023
“I don’t want to be the guy to just say give up a format or two. It’s a global cricketing issue at the moment to keep the players inspired to play all formats of the game. I do think there’s a room with the various boards around the world to pinpoint players.” said Ab De Villiers in a media interaction with The Hindu
“We spoke about it earlier, players like SKY (Suryakumar), Dewald Brevis, and myself, the way we took our games to the next level, largely because of these leagues. I think during my career, communication could have been better from my side, but also from the Cricket South Africa side to make sure that we plan accordingly. So it comes down to communication,” ABD further added
