Ashwell Prince, the batting coach for South Africa, stated that the team’s experience in Ahmedabad aids in their preparation for Sunday’s T20 World Cup Super Eights match against India. South Africa played and won three of their four T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage matches in Ahmedabad.
“The fact that we played here early in the group stages of the tournament, I think that helps. The more matches you play at particular ground, you get familiar with your surroundings. I think that helped us a lot,” Prince said while speaking to ANI.
Last December, South Africa met India in a five-match Twenty20 International series, which the home team won 3-1. Rain forced the cancellation of one of the matches.
“Having played India in a five-match series, one rained out, which ended up being four matches. We know a lot about them. They know a lot about us, obviously. But sometimes in your planning and in your preparation, when you’ve played the opposition and you kind of know what to expect, you know, it gives you a better idea of what to face. So, I think that helps,” the Proteas batting coach said.
Prince added that although India has a potent batting lineup that includes players like Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma, his side isn’t concentrating on any one player.
“You’ve got (Abhishek) Sharma, you’ve got Ishan Kishan and you’ve got a whole line-up of players. For us, we’re not focusing on one individual. India have a strong team, we’ve got to focus on the whole team. We’ve got to try and find places where we can apply some pressure on them and hopefully take some wickets, force some mistakes. Hopefully score one more run than them. Yeah, I think it would be a good battle,” he said.
Shukri Conrad, the head coach of South Africa, stated that his squad is confidently moving on to the next phase after completing the group stages.
“The first half of the group stages was the anxious bit for me. This is now the excitement. Tournament cricket almost has three parts to it. You’ve got to find a way of just getting out of that group stage. So we did that. Now you look, and you say, right, we’ve got India first up, and then the West Indies with some of the most entertaining players in the world, and that excites me,” Conrad said.
Conrad also discussed how pressure plays a part in important games, pointing out that both teams are impacted.
“Pressure is a big thing, but it’s pressure both for them and us. I think we all talk about the pressure of playing against the top side, but we’re not quite aware of what the pressures they are under. I’m not, for one, suggesting that a guy who has three ducks in his last three matches comes under pressure for his place in his side. No,” he remarked.
Conrad is talking about Abhishek Sharma, who hasn’t scored any runs and was unwell and missed India’s second game of the competition. Conrad rejected the excessive focus on individual player “match-ups” prior to the team’s matchup with the reigning champions.
“The match-ups can be overstated. I’m not a big fan of it. Sometimes the wickets are so good that it takes the match-ups out of the equation. If there’s something in the wicket and there’s a little bit of spin, then the match-up could be there for the off-spinner against the left-hander. Maybe the angle you create sometimes. By and large, I think it’s slightly overstated on really good batting wickets,” Conrad said.
