Du Plessis Ready To Freshen Up Twenty20 Approach

Du Plessis Ready To Freshen Up Twenty20 Approach

Faf du Plessis is ready to mix things up as South Africa captain as they build for Bangladesh 2014

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South Africa's Twenty20 International captain Faf du Plessis says he is to keen to inject the side with fresh ideas during the two-match series that gets underway tonight (1st March) in Durban.

Du Plessis continues to lead the side after AB de Villiers chose to step down as captain, and the new skipper plans to use de Villiers as an opening batsman.

"We feel that AB is one of the best batsmen in the world," du Plessis said.

"He is one of those players that can score a century on the day, there aren’t a lot of players in the world who can do that. He is an X-factor player and our plan is looking ahead to the next World Cup."

bet365 make South Africa 2/5 to win the two-match series with Pakistan at 2/1.

The next ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh is in 2014 and the Proteas have just 14 matches between now and then, which they plan to use to develop a settled squad that gives them every chance of taking their first global title since the 1998 Champions Trophy.

"We are trying to get a squad of 15 where 95 percent of the players will be going to the World Cup," du Plessis confirmed. "In saying that, there are still 14 games to make sure that we get our combinations right, that is an area we haven’t got it right before.

"Maybe we can use the next six games to try out some combinations and the last few building up to the World Cup to start settling into those combinations and roles to make sure that we have more of a plan closer to the time."

Du Plessis says he would ideally like more Twenty20 Internationals on the calendar to give his side more experience, but he remains positive that South Africa can still make good progress ahead of 2014.

"It's not ideal in terms of preparation, but it is what it is. One thing we have decided is to use our practices with the future in mind. As a captain in this series I will take decisions that may be questioned on the day but there is a plan behind it.

"We are practising skills now so that we will be better at them in six to ten games," he added.

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