Du Plessis rested for England ODI series
The Proteas will rest Faf du Plessis for the upcoming ODI series against England despite the side coming up against the world’s best team.
The three-match 50 over series starts at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday.
Du Plessis was one of the best performers for the Proteas in the T20 series against England, but will be rested after his efforts in the series and the recent Indian Premier League in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Along with Du Plessis, the Proteas will be without their bowling lynchpin Kagiso Rabada who will miss the three-match series due to an injury. He will also be given some time off in order to be ready for the first test match against Sri Lanka on Boxing Day.
Pite van Biljoen, Bjorn Fortuin and Reeza Hendricks have also all been released from the squad to join their franchises for the last two rounds of the 4-Day Domestic Series before the Christmas break.
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Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt knows that the bowlers were undercooked in the three T20 games.
“The guys have played four-day cricket so they have been bowling, but they haven’t played any T20 cricket,” Langeveldt says.
“We are all professionals and we try and get the guys to that level as quickly as possible but it’s difficult to get that match intensity because we didn’t have any warm-up games.”
Coming up against the world champions, who might be without some of their stars, will be a difficult task given their great form in white ball cricket in the recent past.
“They’ve got a very well balanced side and a lot of experience with guys who have been playing for a number of years together as a team,” says Langeveldt.
“For our young bowlers it’s a great opportunity to test the mental aspect of your game against a side that is going to come hard at you, that’s the nature of their game.
“Mentally we are going to have to be strong when we are under pressure and be able to execute when it counts.”
Losing the likes of Rabada for the series is going to be a big blow for the young Proteas bowling line-up.
“Not having KG (Rabada) is going to be massive because he strikes often with the new ball and that’s what we have spoken a lot about – being able to take wickets in the first ten overs,” says Langeveldt.