After completing the white-ball assignment in India, the South African cricket team will leave for Australia to take part in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, starting October 16.

According to South Africa head coach Mark Boucher, the pitches in Australia will suit the Proteas bowlers but they need to be aggressive to get the desired results.

He also stressed on the fact that keeping the players physically and mentally fresh will be imperative in the lead-up to the ICC event.

“Australia will suit our fast bowlers a lot better. We have got some good pace, some good bounce in our attack, so we need to keep the aggression there.

“I think the last one-day game (against India) we played, there wasn’t enough aggression,” Boucher said after his side conceded the three-match ODI series 2-1 in Delhi on Tuesday (October 11).

Notably, South Africa have been on the road since July. They toured UK for a full series against England besides playing T20Is against Ireland and then travelled to India for six white ball games.

“For the T20 stuff, keeping the guys fresh. We have come off a long tour of England straight into India, a couple of guys have been playing in the Caribbean league as well.

“Keeping the guys mentally and physically fresh is going to be vital for the management and myself to monitor.”

Despite fielding their full-strength team, the Proteas lost both the T20I and the ODI series against India. They were skittled out for 99 in the series-deciding third ODI and eventually lost the match by seven wickets.

“Surprisingly India’s bowling attack in the ODIs bowled with far more aggression than what we did. We did chat about it and the way Anrich Nortje bowled tonight was a positive sign for me, especially going into conditions where that will be quite effective.”

“I think we have taken some lessons and we have had good chats behind closed doors to speak about things that we can get better at.

Asked if South Africa should have played two separate teams for the ODIs and T20Is, Boucher replied: “In a perfect world, yes. We saw the benefits of it with the Indian team fresh and bouncing, rearing to go. Ours were maybe a little fatigued.”

“But it’s also difficult because we don’t have the depth India does. We also had pressure to try and win every game. So we decided to stick with the squad we thought could win games. But in hindsight it could have been a better option.”

(With PTI inputs)