Coach Mark Boucher labels South Africas series against India good challenge

Mark Boucher, the head coach of the South
African cricket team has revealed that he is looking forward to the team’s series
against India which will commence on December 17. The Proteas’ tour will
consist of 3 Test matches, 3 ODI matches and 4 T20 Internationals.

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Last year, the South Africans enjoyed a fairly
successful tour to India as they won the white ball series but failed to do the
same in the Test series. This year’s ODI series will be crucial for Mark’s men
as it will play an important role in their World Cup qualification.

However, with the Test series just around
the corner the team is focussed on the task at hand.

The coach told News 24, “Unscathed is a
particularly interesting word to use, but we’re playing a team at home that’s
up there with the world’s best. If you look at where we are as a Test group,
we’re still growing and we’re still trying to find our feet with certain
positions. It’s going to be a good challenge and a good test for us.“

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“We did well in
the West Indies, but we haven’t played a Test at home in a while. It’s not
about getting unscathed, but going out there with an opportunity to do
something special and beat India. If we don’t, we’ll obviously learn the
lessons and come out as a better cricket team,” Mark added.

Boucher reiterated
the importance of the matches against Netherlands in white ball cricket which
will count in the qualification process for the 2023 ODI World Cup. At the same
time the coach realises the importance of the Test series against India.

Mark concluded
by saying, “The focus has shifted to the Netherlands because there are
games there that we need to win in order to qualify for the World Cup. However,
we can’t look past the very important Test series against India, from where
there’s the white ball stuff against India,”

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The Proteas have a busy schedule following
their early exit from the ICC T20 World Cup which is taking place in the United
Arab Emirates.