Why South Africa Needs a Faf du Plessis to Fight India?

South Africa head coach Mark Boucher on Sunday said Faf du Plessis' long experience in the Indian conditions will come handy during the upcoming three-match ODI series.

“If you go to a place like India, you need to find a balance between youth and experience. I think Faf is really doing well in ODI cricket for South Africa. The last time he played, he got a hundred. He knows the Indian conditions very well,” Boucher said.

The series starts in Dharmasala on March 12. The South African team reached India on Monday and will take a chartered flight to Dharmasala on Tuesday.

Faf du Plessis who had stepped down as South Africa captain across all the formats exhibited a poor show in the T20 series against Australia with scores of 24, 15 and 5.

Boucher said having Faf du Plessis also means he will have some selection headaches and it is a good thing to have.

“It’s a good headache to have. Just him being around the squad will add a lot of value and experience as well. We will look at conditions and then put together combinations. Why you would want to have Faf is because he has done really well in those (Indian) conditions.”

“India is going to be a tough test. Different conditions. Many of (our) guys haven’t played a lot of cricket in India as well. What’s impressive is guys have responded to the messages we have sent out to them on batting and bowling perspectives.”

After getting whitewashed by New Zealand in the ODI and Test series, India will be looking forward to reinstating their dominance in the sport. Given that Hardik Pandya, Shikar Dhawan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar have been included in the squad, Virat Kohli should have started drawing a plan by now.