(CMC) – Two teams with high hopes of ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup glory set out over the next four days on a final dress rehearsal before the global showpiece, trying to ignore that several important pieces will be missing from the action.
West Indies and South Africa are determined to make the most of their series of three Twenty20 Internationals this week – the first today at Sabina Park – though they are without several players that will be the heartbeat and soul of their squads during the World Cup over the next month in the Caribbean and the United States.
The two World Cup captains – Rovman Powell for the West Indies and Aiden Markram for South Africa – are still involved with their respective franchises in the knockout stages of the highly visible Indian Premier League, which draws to a close on Sunday, six days before the World Cup opens.
A handful of others – Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer, and Sherfane Rutherford for the West Indies, and Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, and Keshav Maharaj for South Africa – are also expected to feature in either the preliminary final tomorrow at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai or the title match at the same venue.
In addition, the West Indies have rested batting duo Nicholas Pooran and Shai Hope after their heavy involvement with the IPL, and South Africa has given strike bowler Kagiso Rabada time to recover from an illness that cut short his stay in India. David Miller and Tristan Stubbs are also resting after IPL stints.
Yet, this will still be a great opportunity for players on both teams to fine-tune their skills and ensure that they are as prepared as they can be ahead of the World Cup, whether they are in the final squad or in the reserve pool.
For stand-in West Indies captain Brandon King, it is a chance to prove his fitness after he missed the West Indies “A” Tour of Nepal with a knee injury and his leadership potential.
“It’s the last series heading into the World Cup, so we want to implement how we want to play… so it is really about that and trying to finalise everybody’s roles and responsibilities,” King said. “I am 100 per cent fit, and I am ready to go.”
“The guys that are missing are very experienced, and they have been playing for us over the past two years, so their roles will not have changed much, and they will fit in nicely when they come.”
King added: “When we played against South Africa last year in South Africa, they are a very, very good team.
If you look at the players they have for this series on paper, it could pass for their starting 11, so we will have to be at the top of our game because they are not a team against whom you can relax, and they play a very positive and aggressive brand of cricket.
“We are looking to exploit our home advantage in this series. Last time, we played in their conditions, and we ended up winning, so we should be more positive playing at home.”
King said it will not be difficult to managing the expectations against the South Africans while keeping the focus on the World Cup.
“Sport is a thing that you have to take day-by-day, especially when you have so many games; you cannot think too far ahead,” he said. “You have to think about how you can do the best you can each day and take it game-by-game because it’s an important series for us because it will be good, hard preparation for us, so we will handle the World Cup when we get to it.”
For others that did not get the provisional nod for the World Cup – such as Fabian Allen, Alick Athanaze, Matthew Forde, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh for the West Indies, and stand-in captain Rassie van der Dussen, Matthew Breetzke, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, and Nqaba Peter for South Africa – they know this first match could be their ticket into the World Cup party with a big performance.
All teams are allowed, up to Saturday, to make changes to their provisional World Cup squads that were previously named, after which any alteration will require approval from the event’s technical committee, so there is still time for players omitted to shine.
For the players that are already World Cup-bound, this will be a time to nip and tuck any part of their game that may be out of place, and for uncapped West Indies pacer Shamar Joseph, it is likely to be an opportunity for him to make his T20I debut ahead of the World Cup.
“We are also excited to see what he can bring,” King said. “You definitely see him in this series, but we are all excited to see what he has to offer in this format.”
The West Indies trail South Africa 8-11 in the head-to-head, but they will take comfort in knowing that the last time the two sides met, they won a three-match series 2-1 in the backyard of their opponents.
Squads:
West Indies (from): Brandon King (captain), Roston Chase (vice-captain), Fabian Allen, Alick Athanaze, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Matthew Forde, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Obed McCoy, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, and Hayden Walsh Jr.
South Africa (from): Rassie van der Dussen (captain), Ottniel Baartman, Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton De Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Patrick Kruger, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Nqaba Peter, Andile Phehlukwayo, Ryan Rickelton, and Tabraiz Shamsi.
