Conrad happy with learnings despite the series loss

South Africa's recce for the next year's T20 World Cup is done and they're adopting the you either win or you learn mentality after a 3-1 series defeat to India. The T20Is came at the end of ten weeks on the road for South Africa, in which they played in both India and Pakistan and began their World Test Championship title defence with three wins and a loss.

"It's been a wonderful tour," Shukri Conrad, South Africa's coach, said on their last stop in Ahmedabad. "You learn a lot about yourself and the game and conditions. This last bit has been wonderful for us in terms of conditions that we're going to experience in a few months' time when we come here for the World Cup. I'm really happy with the outcomes. Obviously, you want to win every series you play, but India are the world champions in this format for a reason and we've got to make sure that we come back in a few months' time and try and topple them."

South Africa will play three of their four group stage matches at the T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium, and, if they get there, two of their three Super Eight games at the same venue, so ending their India trip in Ahmedabad was informative. Conrad expects less fog and dew when the T20 World Cup is played in February and March, which could decrease the significance of the toss. If the fifth T20I is anything to go by, he also expects big scores as both teams topped 200, and South Africa fell 30 runs short.

That margin of defeat was a symptom of a wider problem as inconsistency stalked South Africa through the last four white-ball tours. In India, they were bowled out for their lowest T20I score - 74 - in the opener, then defended 213 for 4 in the second game to come back in the series but posted only 117 in game three to fall behind. Chasing 232 in the final match, they made a decent effort to get to 201 for 8 but will look back at their bowlers leaking runs as the reason they could not share the spoils.

Overall, South Africa's record in T20Is in 2025 is not pretty. They've played 18 matches and lost 12, including a tri-series final to New Zealand and series in both Pakistan and India. Ordinarily, less than two months before a T20 World Cup, that would be a cause for concern but South Africa have tended to use bilateral series as spaces to experiment and so what Conrad has is data, not disaster, from his first six months as all-format coach.

In T20Is, South Africa have done the most shuffling. Among Full Members, only West Indies (32) have fielded more players in T20Is than South Africa (31) this year.

Dewald Brevis has made the most appearances, and played in 17 of those 18 matches, while Corbin Bosch and Lungi Ngidi have been the next most consistent, with 13 caps each. Captain Aiden Markram has only played half the fixtures, Kagiso Rabada was limited to five appearances through a combination of rest and, most recently, a rib injury, while injuries also kept star middle-order batter David Miller to three games and Keshav Maharaj to only one. So where does that leave Conrad as he puts together his T20 World Cup squad?

"At the top of the order, whether it's opening or No. 3, I think we've got two in Quinton [de Kock] and Aiden and we're probably looking at another batter at the top of the order," he said.

De Kock's return, which also saw him finish as the second-leading run-scorer in the series with as many half-centuries as Tilak Verma and Hardik Pandya, appears to have all but guaranteed him a spot in the World Cup squad. Whether Ryan Rickelton can force his way in at No. 3, or South Africa look to someone with more experience, such as Reeza Hendricks, is the choice Conrad has to make.

Lower down, it's clearer. "We've ticked quite a few boxes in terms of our middle order and middle to lower order," Conrad said.

Brevis, though he has made a habit of being dismissed when it looks like he could go on to dominate the innings, and David Miller will be shoo-ins, and Conrad will hope that counters Heinrich Klaasen's absence. There may also be room for one more batter and everyone from Tony de Zorzi to Matthew Breetzke to Tristan Stubbs will come into the conversation for that.

Conrad likes to stack the side with allrounders, so players such as Donovan Ferreira, George Linde, Marco Jansen and Bosch will be candidates for Nos. 7 and 8, but there are decisions to be made about the composition of the attack. Kagiso Rabada, once fit, will slot back in but then Conrad will have to decide on a squad combination that could include Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger and Kwena Maphaka (if their hamstring concerns allow). While Maharaj should be the first-choice spinner, Bjorn Fortuin and legspinner Nqaba Peter are also contenders.

For now, Conrad is reasonably happy with who is on the park and what he's seeing but has identified areas for improvement. "By and large, we were missing someone like Kagiso, who's massive for us in the bowling department. We can execute better with the ball when we're under pressure and I think the guys just need a few matches under their belt," he said. "Anrich Nortje hasn't played cricket in a very long time. And we obviously know that playing international cricket at the intensity that it's meant to be played is really tough. We've ticked all of those boxes in terms of getting them through a series where it gives us a really good idea of who's coming to this World Cup."

Nortje played in only two matches in the series, and went wicketless, but remains a strong candidate for the T20 World Cup given his record at the tournament. He was South Africa's leading bowler in 2024 and now that he concentrates on only one format, he is expected to headline their T20 attack.

"Guys like Anrich knew exactly how many games he was going to play coming here," Conrad said. "We've got to bring them along slowly. There's no point in rushing guys only for them to get re-injured again. I'm happy with how we've managed that. And certainly they're going to get a lot of match preparedness during the SA20."

All of South Africa's squad, and those on the fringes, will now be involved in the month-long SA20, which starts on Boxing Day. The tournament will provide players with a final opportunity to make their case to be selected for the World Cup squad, which will be named in the first half of January. South Africa also host West Indies for three T20Is just before the World Cup starts on February 7.