The Proteas’ biggest headache at the moment is not the team’s difficulties in the recent one-day series against Bangladesh – but rather which of the players to rest and when to do so, said South African coach Russell Domingo on the eve of the T20 and one-day international series against New Zealand.
The Proteas – who had to make do without experienced players AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander – were beaten for the first time by Bangladesh last month when they were skittled out of the one-day series by two games to one.
“The series against New Zealand is a very important one in a long season, and we will have to maintain a fine balance between giving players too much and too little rest,” Domingo said.
According to him, the door to the Proteas team is still open for the struggling Quinton de Kock, who was this week dropped for the series.
“Every player sometimes goes through a difficult patch, and it’s by no means the end of his career,” Domingo said.
“AB, Hashim [Amla], Dale and Faf [du Plessis] have all already been left out. Quinton has not become a bad player overnight, he merely has to regain his confidence and hunger.”