Former skipper Faf du Plessis' long experience of playing in IPL and international cricket in India will come in handy during the upcoming three-match ODI series, feels South Africa head coach Mark Boucher. The series starts in Dharamsala on February 12. Du Plessis, who last played an ODI during the 2019 World Cup, had an indifferent T20 series against Australia, with scores of 24, 15 and 5. "If you go to a place like India, you need to find a balance between youth and experience. I think Faf is really doing well in ODI cricket for South Africa."

"The last time he played, he got a hundred. He knows the Indian conditions very well," Boucher said during the team's pre-departure press conference on Sunday. The South African team reached India on Monday morning and will take a chartered flight to Dharamsala on Tuesday. Boucher feels that having Du Plessis also means he will have some selection headaches, which is a good thing to have. "It's a good headache to have. Just him being around the squad will add a lot of value and experience as well. We will look at conditions and then put together combinations. Why you would want to have Faf is because he has done really well in those (Indian) conditions." While South Africa lost the T20 series 1-2 to Australia, they blanked the visitors 3-0 in the ODIs, which gives them confidence going into the series against India.