Du Plessis credits IPL for SA's subcontinent success

For some, the rich culture of the subcontinent is its biggest attraction. For others, the varied cuisine calls them. But for South Africa, it is definitely the cricket that makes the region a favoured destination.

"The guys really enjoy coming here. It gets the team really fired up," Russell Domingo, South Africa's coach, said upon the team's arrival in Bangladesh. "And the subcontinent seems to bring the best out of South Africa."

While that may not have been true in the early days of South Africa's readmission, overall, South Africa have a better Test and ODI record in Asia than they do in England or Oceania. The only places where they perform better than in the subcontinent are at home - a no-brainer - and West Indies - which may have more to do with the quality of the opposition than the conditions.

Since 2010, South Africa have won three out of eight Tests, 16 out of 28 ODIs, and 11 out of 17 T20Is on the subcontinent. Included in that are drawn Test series against India and Pakistan, and victory over Sri Lanka, who they also beat in an ODI series.

The recent success is not just a case of South Africa's maturing as an international outfit who are able to adapt to foreign conditions, but also the result of their players spending a lot more time in the subcontinent thanks to the IPL. "The IPL is probably the biggest reason we have had success in the sub-continent," Faf du Plessis, South Africa's T20 captain said. "South African players enjoy playing in the IPL and over the period of eight IPLs, South African players have had reasonably good tournaments there."

Of the current T20 squad, nine players were at this year's IPL and one other, Wayne Parnell, has been part of previous editions of the tournament. AB de Villiers was fourth on the highest run-scorers list and one of just four batsman to score a century at this year's tournament. JP Duminy captained Delhi Daredevils and came in at 12th. Faf du Plessis finished 14th and David Miller, 18th. South Africa's frontline pacemen, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, had a quiet IPL, but David Wiese ended 10th on the bowling charts, Imran Tahir, who will be part of the ODI squad, 11th and Chris Morris, 17th.

While it was the seasoned batsmen who performed at the IPL, South Africa's selectors would have been heartened to see what Russell Domingo called "the next tier" of bowlers, including Wiese and Morris, perform as they did. Both were recalled to the squad on the strength of those IPL showings and both will consider themselves in contention of making the World T20 squad next year.

That tournament will be played in India, where South Africa will also spend October and November, so the series in Bangladesh has heightened importance. It will serve as preparation for both the India tour and, especially, the World T20. "It's my responsibility as a captain to make sure the guys are looking at conditions here and looking ahead to the World T20," du Plessis said. "This series is very important for us because our eye is still on the World T20 in India," du Plessis said.

The World T20 presents yet another chance for South Africa to break their major tournament hoodoo, something du Plessis admitted was at the back of their minds even as they recover from the 2015 World Cup disappointment. "We have to refocus ourselves and look ahead," du Plessis said. Their three-month break would have helped South Africa do that, as will the fixture list. They will travel to the one of their favourite places, the subcontinent, three times in the next nine months but they don't expect it all to be plain sailing.

"The heat is always the first challenge for a team touring the subcontinent. It was pretty warm when we walked outside the change-room now. It's in that first week or so where you get used to the conditions," du Plessis said, which may explain why South Africa arrived in Bangladesh five days before their first match.

Even if they adjust, South Africa still expect both the conditions as well as a Bangladesh side on the up, to be tough to overcome.

"We are a pretty high intensity team and in warm conditions you cant always play at that intensity, you need to pull it back a little bit. And then the other challenge will be the confidence the Bangladesh team have at the moment - to try and counter that."