BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – South Africa captain Graeme Smith says his recent finger injury was a “blessing in disguise” as it afforded him the time to plan along with the management team for the World Twenty20 Championship.
The 29-year-old, who has led the Proteas for the last seven years, sustained the injury playing for the Rajasthan Royals in the early days of the Indian Premier League.
Initially, the injury threatened to scupper his WT20 campaign but he recovered quickly to make the Caribbean trip.
According to Smith, the recovery phase allowed him precious time with new coach Corrie van Zyl who only recently replaced the long-standing Mickey Arthur.
“The injury has progressed nicely and obviously it healed a lot quicker than I expected,” Smith told reporters here.
“I think it was probably a small blessing in disguise in many ways. With the change of coach, it (the injury) allowed me to spend time with Corrie and the management team and really just sort of plan for this [tournament].
“The injury allowed myself and him to spend some time [together] and talk and plan get to know each other a little bit better and also spend some time with the rest of the management. [It also allowed him] to give us an idea of what he would like to achieve over the next year that he’s in the job.”
