South Africa will not have the ideal preparation for the T20 World Cup and fans need to accept that, writes Aditya Mehta.

If it’s any consolation, no team will have the perfect preparation for the tournament. The lack of preparation can be attributed to a multitude of factors – a packed cricket calendar, stringent bio-bubble protocols, the dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases in India and the potentially rescheduled Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League. It also doesn’t help that we are still unclear whether the World Cup will take place in India or the UAE.

Mark Boucher indicated that he wanted to get a sense of his best XI starting with the West Indies tour. With Faf du Plessis not included in the squad for the tour, and with numerous South African players being contracted to play for their IPL and PSL franchises, it is highly unlikely that South Africa will be able to play their best team till the World Cup begins.

While the idea that South Africa’s best XI will not have played together before the World Cup may induce a degree of panic, I believe it could work in their favour. South Africa’s record in ICC tournaments and the media chatter around it puts South African teams under more pressure compared to other teams.

The acknowledgement that South Africa, as well as other teams, will not have played a significant amount of T20 cricket with their best players before the World Cup could alleviate the burden that the Proteas normally carry to ICC tournaments. In addition to West Indies and Ireland, South Africa were scheduled to play Sri Lanka and India before the showpiece.

If South Africa’s best XI lost those series, it would put the team under tremendous pressure, and possibly hurt their chances at the World Cup.

In saying that, Mark Boucher and Temba Bavuma should have a clear idea of what their best team is and establish role clarity so that the players in the team have a firm understanding of what is expected of them, while beginning their preparations at an individual level.

If South Africa can view the potential schedule changes expected over the next few months as beneficial to the team, then the Proteas will have the firepower to place their hands on that ICC trophy.