SA coach Boucher praises Bhuvneshwar for performance in T20I series

JOHANNESBURG: After the five-match T20I series between India and South Africa ended, Proteas head coach Mark Boucher lavished praise on pacer Bhuveshwar Kumar for putting the batters under pressure.

The fifth and final T20I between India and South Africa at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru was abandoned due to rain on Sunday. With this, the series stays level at 2-2 and will be shared by both sides. "Temba struggled during the tour. There's no doubt. But he only really struggled against one bowler and that was [Bhuvneshwar] Kumar. Most of the guys struggled against him. Let's give him credit where it's due. Kumar is a fantastic bowler in those conditions," said Boucher as reported by ESPNcricinfo.

"There were times when the ball was swinging a lot which makes him very, very dangerous. Also, the ball was up and down a lot, especially with the new ball," he added.

Bhuvneshwar became the second-highest wicket-taker with a total of six wickets in five matches. He also had the lowest economy rate among bowlers who had played all five games in this series - 6.07 runs per over - keeping South Africa to three of their five-lowest powerplay scores against India.

Regarding his batters, the head coach said, "You need to have the technical know-how on how to play a shot. Once you get the confidence of adding that extra shot to your batting, or ball to your bowling, it's having the mindset to go out there and really trust it."

"Ultimately, you're not going to win World Cups with a mindset where you are tentative. You've got to go out there and play. There have been other teams in the world - India have showed us the way they play, England and the way they play- that's really the way forward, especially in the shorter version of the game," he added.

Following the T20I series against India, South Africa will be squaring off for an all-format series against England. The white-ball squad will be departing for England on July 8.