Competitive cricket will be good for SA before T20 WC: Temba Bavuma

New Delhi [India], June 4 (ANI): South African skipper Temba Bavuma said that any type of competitive cricket before the T20 World Cup will be a benefit for the African team ahead of the upcoming T20I series against India starting from June 9.
"The conditions in India don't accurately simulate conditions in Australia. In saying that, there's still a lot of benefit from playing. Any type of competitive cricket will be good for us, "Bavuma said during a virtual media interaction.
"We'll be using these games really to familiarise ourselves again with how we go about playing cricket. Getting that right language that we speak amongst ourselves, really getting guys understanding what their roles are within the team," he added.
Further, Bavuma talked about new faces in the team and said "We've got a couple of new faces within the T20 space. Opportunities will be given to those guys to see what role they can play and what value they can add to the team."
India's skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah rested for the series, the hosts are being led by KL Rahul with some new faces in the team including pacers Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh.
"It's obviously a new-look Indian side. A lot of guys who have done well in the recent IPL have been given opportunities. From us as a team, we wouldn't be looking at it any differently," Bavuma said.
"We don't really see it as taking on a 'B' side. We have played against the Indian T20 side. So, going into the game, we'll still be as motivated as ever. The competitiveness will be there," he added.
The white ball skipper also talked about the aggressive mindset of the Indian players.
"The attitude, the mindset of the Indian team, in the last couple of years, has changed. It's guys who play cricket hard, who play very competitively. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are not there but the Indian fighting spirit will still be there," he said.
"We don't expect them to take it easy on us. We don't expect it to be easy on us. We still expect it to be tough, and we'll be approaching it in that manner," he added.
Talking about the batting department of the team, Bavuma said "That's (batting) a thing we'd like to solidify. More specifically at the top."
"If I look at our bowling, there is a bit more solidity and clarity. With these games, we'll be trying to find those combinations, or particularly for who partners up with Quinton upfront," he added.
"One, two, or number three positions are probably where we'd like to get a lot more clarity. But I think everything else will kind of will continue as is. Our middle order is our middle order, we've got a nice set of all-rounders is more particularly at the top," said Bavuma.
Indian spin twin Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are back in the team together. Talking about their experience Bavuma said that he is hopeful SA's experienced batters will be able to play them nicely.
"It will be a challenge. We've played against them a couple of times, and one hopes that we have a better understanding of conditions here in India. The guys are individually speaking about them. They have the individual ways of approaching spin and how they can be successful," said Bavuma
"For the younger guys, it'll be important how the others share that knowledge. The way that we played slow bowling over the last 18 months or so as a group gives us a lot of confidence and belief that we can dominate spin bowling and different types of bowling," he added.
"In terms of the series, we are looking to win but also achieve all the other objectives as well," Bavuma said about the T20I series against India. (ANI)