Much has been written about Mark Boucher in the last few months, but very little of it has had to do with how he has conducted himself as head coach.
While the erstwhile culture of the Proteas team is a subject that is far from resolved, Boucher should be afforded the opportunity to have his stint in charge of the Proteas be judged by results on the field.
In the dressing room, Boucher has taken on board the spirit of openness in forging a new team culture, built around bringing honour to the Proteas badge while respecting individuals.
All that would amount to very little in the eyes of the rest of the cricketing world, but for a change they are being made to once again sit up and take notice of the upstarts from the southern tip of Africa.
The start the team has made to the T20I series in India underlines the way the Proteas have progressed in this format.
The past
For years, it seemed South Africa were consistently behind the curve in the shortest format, with players bewilderingly oblivious when it came to game awareness.
In the past, the Proteas T20I side had suffered from the format being used as a developmental tool, as promising youngsters were given a chance to step up.
That’s not to say that approach didn’t bear some fruit, with Lungi Ngidi’s rise to being a multi-format star sparked by T20I appearances. What it wasn’t great for was results and being competitive at T20 World Cups.
The present
The work Boucher is doing with the team is a continuation of the efforts at the 2021 T20 World Cup, when the Proteas came within a whisker of a semi-final place.
Boucher himself played very little T20 cricket, but this Proteas T20 side play the game a lot like the combative wicketkeeper-batsman did.
It helps to have players who have either played a lot of T20 cricket – such as David Miller, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi – and young players brought up on an increased diet of 20-over fare.
The future
Boucher’s teams are now filled with players capable of taking a game by the scruff of the neck.
There is a relentless boldness to the Proteas T20I team that makes you want to watch them play because they are always going to fight until the finish.
If Boucher can keep this team on track, they have a shot at bringing home South Africa’s first major International Cricket Council trophy in a long time later this year.
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