‘He’s been successful in every part of the world’ - Former Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar on inclusion of Rilee Rossouw in South Africa squad

South Africa were forced to share points with Zimbabwe after their first match of the Super 12 stage in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022 at Bellerive Oval in Hobart ended in a no result due to persistent drizzle. The Proteas have not been in great touch lately following their three-match T20I series loss (2-1) to team India away from home.

However, the conditions in Australia are different as compared with what they dealt with back in India. That said, the squad is dealing with issues of its own as skipper Temba Bavuma’s form has raised speculations on whether his inclusion in the World Cup was needed or not. Bavuma will look to turn things around in the marquee tournament going ahead as will his side as they could be the ‘dark horses’ of Group 2.

Former Bangladesh cricketer Habibul Bashar believes the inclusion of batting ace Rilee Rossouw will have a huge impact on the squad’s batting line-up in the World Cup.

Habibul Bashar backs South Africa’s pace line-up

“They have a very good batting line-up with batters who can score big runs with very good strike rate. But the inclusion of Rilee Rossouw will have a huge impact. I mean others have been playing and scoring runs, but Rossouw has been successful in every part of the world,” Habibul Bashar said on 'BatBricks7 presents Run Ki Runneeti' on CricTracker.

The Australian conditions can be very tricky for batters because of the extra bounce that the wickets in the country offer to bowlers, especially to pacers. The pitches are fast and are well suited for the bowling department of a side. Bashar believes South Africa have a good bowling line-up and has backed them to outperform teams with brute pace.

“They (South Africa) have got the pace that is suited well in the (Australian) conditions. I mean, any team who plays South Africa will find it very hard to score runs,” added Bashar.