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SA adjusting well to intensity of India tour

While this T20 series victory will be savoured it is still just the beginning. The bulk of the tour's cricket is yet to be played and the challenges will only get bigger.

Firdose Moonda
Firdose Moonda
08-Oct-2015
In a strange way, perhaps there is something positive that can be taken out of the wash-out at Kolkata for South Africa. Although they are disappointed that they did not have the opportunity to play at the iconic venue, South Africa had plenty of time to process their position heading into the game and don't want to get ahead of themselves despite the early success on tour.
"We have only played two days of cricket and there's 25 days of cricket left. We shouldn't get too cocky and confident on what has happened as we India are a very quality side," Russell Domingo, South Africa's coach, said.
While this T20 series victory will be savoured - because as Faf du Plessis explained in his post-match press conference, "It is really important to acknowledge how hard it is to come to India and to win any series," - it is still just the beginning. The bulk of the tour's cricket is yet to be played and the challenges will only get bigger. Already, Domingo, who is on his first trip to India, has found some elements overwhelming.
"There's lots of media, lots of questions," he said when asked what makes India a particularly difficult place to tour. "The crowd support is immense, the passion for the game, the constant scrutiny from the media and public. So dealing with the all the noise, I'm not talking about the crowd noise alone but even the media noise. I put on the TV and the only thing I'm watching is the highlights of the game and constant analysis. Keeping our focus amidst all this noise is what is main goal."
South Africa have a mixed record on the field when it comes to dealing with such intensity. In limited-overs cricket, too much pressure has often undone them, especially in major tournaments. In Test cricket, it has brought out the best in them, especially recently. Slowly, they are starting to move away from the former, with more solid showings under stress in shorter formats as they set themselves them up for what they hope will be an eventual shedding of the chokers' tag.
Their performances so far will give them reason to believe they can, especially after the first game. South Africa came back from what seemed a lost cause in the chase to complete it successfully with some of their lesser lights - JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien - finishing the job. "The first one was a big one for us... 200 was a stiff target and chasing that gave us a lot of confidence going into the second T20," Duminy said.
In the second match, South Africa put right what they did wrong in the first. "We knew going into the second game that we needed to improve as a bowling unit. That was a big plus for us, the way we bowled, the discipline we showed within our bowling department," Duminy said. "That is going to be a big tick for us in the T20 format. With the results that we have got here now, will give us a lot of confidence going into the T20 series against England and Australia and obviously the World T20 coming in a few months."
Before that, South Africa have this tour to concentrate on and they still have nine more matches to play. That equals 25 days of cricket and almost double that number traveling, practicing and being together. That's a lot of time to rack up more good results or to drive each other mad but on the evidence of their first few days, there could be more of the former and almost none of the latter.
"We enjoy each other's company. It doesn't matter which part of the world we are in. There are not too many arguments going on in the team room. We find ways of enjoying ourselves in a long tour," Duminy said. "That is important for us especially when you are coming to a place where there is not a lot to do outside the hotel and you are coming to a place for such a long period of time. It can get you down at times so it is important that we gel as a unit and gel as a team.
"We have got a great camaraderie within the team and everybody plays for one another. Everybody wants each other to do well and we enjoy each others' successes. That is an important component for a successful team." So far, so good.

Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent