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Proteas hit rest button ahead of ODIs

Kimberley - The Proteas have hit the reset button ahead of the first One-Day International (ODI) against Bangladesh at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Sunday.

Captain, Faf du Plessis, has warned against complacency following the 2-0 whitewash in the Test series, adding that the change in formats will be an opportunity for the visitors to regroup. 

AB de Villiers and JP Duminy return to the international fold after a long break, and will bring a fresh injection of energy and hunger. The series is the start of an important summer of trial and assessment for the ODI squad, as plans for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup start to gain momentum. 

"Bangladesh has proven in white-ball cricket that they can perform outside of their country," Du Plessis said in Kimberley on Saturday.

"It was shown recently in the Champions Trophy when they made the semi-finals. Their record in Test cricket away from home is completely different, in white-ball cricket they have shown they are a dangerous side. The Test match victory was nice and we dominated them, but we are expecting a different challenge in the one-day series.

"The team mood is the same, nothing has changed. It is normal business for us, it is back to one-day cricket. We want to prove a point in one-day cricket, last year was a good year for us, bar the Champions Trophy.

"There were a lot of good things that we did to get ourselves to No.1 in the world, by playing some good dominating cricket. We are looking to do more of the same this year and it will be important to start it against Bangladesh ahead of big tours next year." 

Du Plessis explained the thinking and plans around the squad rotation policy ahead of the summer, which will be an important process to grow the player resource pool. The injuries to some key fast bowlers will also open the gap to assess how the next tier of players adapt to international cricket.  

"Our policy over the next two years is to try and have a look at more players than we usually do," he explained.

"Over the last two to three years we have had a settled one-day unit, there hasn’t been a lot of guys coming in. We have a vision for the next two years to try and see how we can grow players and how they can fit into the strongest eleven in a World Cup side.

"There are a few players in the squad for this series. We will try to use the opportunity to play everyone but going forward our squad will also change, we don’t want to just look at 15 players, we want to look a group of 20-plus players over the next few years. It will be a great opportunity to see some new guys." 

The Proteas have the opportunity to move to No. 1 on the ICC ODI Team rankings if they produce a clean series sweep against Bangladesh. 

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