IPL Will Give Us An Idea Of What Scores Will Be Like At T20 World Cup: Mark Boucher
Mark Boucher added that he expects conditions in the UAE to be similar to those of Grenada, where South Africa managed to beat the West Indies 3-2 in a T20I series.
South Africa head coach Mark Boucher said that they will be observing the remainder of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) to have a good idea of how the pitches are behaving in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is also the venue for the T20 World Cup later this year.
The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, which was suspended following Covid-19 cases inside the bio-bubble and will be completed in UAE, which will also host the T20 World Cup after the ICC decided to shift the mega event from India due to the 3rd wave of Covid-19 prevailing in India.
Notably, South Africa thrashed West Indies in the T20I series 3-2 on Saturday after registering a 25-run victory over the hosts.
“We are probably going to be playing in conditions like this in the UAE. The wickets after the IPL are going to be a bit dry,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Boucher as saying.
“It’s not the same as we’re used to back in South Africa where you can go out and bash your way to 180 to 200 runs. You’ve got to be skillful here; you’ve got to be smart,” he added.
The South African head coach further pointed out that batting in the death-overs would not be comfortable in the UAE and said they would see how IPL pans out to understand the behavior of the wickets. The 44-year old expects the spinners to play a significant role and want all the players to be in their peak form in the coming months.
“It’s going to be tough to bat on especially at the back end, like we saw here. We will have an idea of what scores are going to be by watching the IPL and then taking a look and assess how the wickets are playing during the beginning part of the World Cup,” said Mark Boucher.
“I suspect spinners will play a massive role. If we can get all the guys firing on all cylinders, we’ve got an idea of what could be our strongest line-up and once that happens, then you end up finding an extra 15-20 runs which, in these conditions it becomes a very difficult total to face, especially when it’s so dry,” he added.
The second leg of the IPL is scheduled to be held from September 19 to October 15, while the T20 World Cup will begin on October 17.
