IPL Reason for our Success In Subcontinent: Du Plessis

Published 07/02/2015, 5:45 AM EDT

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South African Twenty 20 captain Faf Du Plessis credits South Africa’s success in the subcontinent to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“The IPL is probably the biggest reason we have had success in the sub-continent. South African players enjoy playing in the IPL and over the period of eight IPLs, South African players have had reasonably good tournaments there,” said Du Plessis.

What backs Du Plessis’ statement is the fact that the current South African outfit has won three out of eight Tests, 16 out of 28 ODIs, and 11 out of 17 T20Is on the subcontinent. Included in that are drawn Test series against India and Pakistan, and victory over Sri Lanka, who they also beat in an ODI series.

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The places where South Africa have played better than in Subcontinent is at home, and the Caribbean, which may also have something to do with the strength of the West Indies Squad.

Du Plessis feels that its important the players get maximum exposure here ahead of the 2016 World T20 which is to be played in India. “It’s my responsibility as a captain to make sure the guys are looking at conditions here and looking ahead to the World T20. This series is very important for us because our eye is still on the World T20 in India,” du Plessis said.

He also talked about what can be the challenges for the visiting team in the subcontinent. “The heat is always the first challenge for a team touring the subcontinent. It was pretty warm when we walked outside the change-room now. It’s in that first week or so where you get used to the conditions. We are a pretty high intensity team and in warm conditions you cant always play at that intensity, you need to pull it back a little bit.”

He hinted that the Proteas won’t be taking the Bangladeshi side lightly and expect it to be a tough contest. ” The other challenge will be the confidence the Bangladesh team have at the moment – to try and counter that.”

In the current T20 squad, 9 players including AB De Villiers, JP Duminy, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir were a part of IPL.

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Written by:

Gurkirat Singh Gill

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A sports enthusiast since 2003 with my first experience of connecting with sports being the Cricket World Cup 2003. Studying Engineering in Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, University of Delhi, but pretty sure will not become an Engineer.
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