With the Twenty20 World Cup round the corner, South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl said the IPL returnees of his team need to get accustomed to the national side’s approach quickly as they prepare for the ICC event to be held in the West Indies from April 30 to May 16.
Some members of the South African team, including Albie Morkel, J.P. Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and a few others are expected to return home over the next few days after participating in the Indian Premier League III which concluded here last night.
“(At the IPL), they played for different franchises and each one of them had its own approach. Now, we don’t not have much time to get them accustomed again to the manner in which we want them to play (in the Twenty20 World Cup),” Van Zyl told the Afrikaans daily Beeld .
However, one good thing for the South African coach was that captain Graeme Smith was available for planning as he had returned home midway through the IPL with a broken finger.
Van Zyl said he and Smith had done lot of planning on the team’s approach in the upcoming tournament.
“Although it’s a short and very intense tournament, it does not mean that there will be less preparation than for other series and tournaments,” he said.
“Bowling at the death is of prime importance. That’s why Graeme (Smith) and I have spent a lot of time in finding the right combination,” Van Zyl added.
