The Proteas may be portrayed outside as a team in decline, but wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi has cited his team’s consecutive T20I series wins as a testimony to their growth and redevelopment.
Still in rebuilding mode, Proteas side took an unassailable 2-0 lead over Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series this Sunday. The win in Colombo was preceded by series wins in the shortest format in West Indies and Ireland.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup later in the year, these are handy results to boost the confidence of a side going through a transition.
Temba Bavuma and his team still have plenty of issues to conquer but Shamsi said these results highlight the talent at their disposal and should bring a sense of calm to the worried South African fans.
“We’re on a run of consecutive series so I don’t think this team is rubbish. I think we are quite good,”
“People speak about the great teams of the past. This team is on par with them.We might not have as many household names because we haven’t played that much international cricket.
It doesn’t mean the players are not that good, just because they are not well known,”
Shamsi was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
While the claim that this team is already “on par” with the great South African teams of the past would be quite far-fetched, there are certainly some encouraging signs, at least in the T20Is, for the selectors and the team management to work with.
Especially this could be applied to the spin front, where Shamsi, combining seamlessly with Keshav Maharaj, Bjorn Fortuin and part-timer Aiden Markram, have led the Sri Lankans downfall, having done the same in the Caribbean along with George Linde.
Shamsi said it’s a “nice” reflection of the quality of spin bowlers available in the ranks, which augurs well heading into a T20 World Cup set to be played in UAE.
