South Africa should avoid clash with IPL and have the best ODI team available: Paul Adams

Former South Africa left-arm wrist spinner Paul Adams has urged Cricket South Africa (CSA) to make sure that a full-strength national team takes part in all ODIs leading up to the team’s qualification for the 2023 World Cup. He called out CSA to avoid any clash of international series with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the future.

This comes after South Africa missed some of their top stars, who all left the third and final ODI and the subsequent four-match T20I series at home against Pakistan and flew to India for joining their IPL teams.

South Africa went onto lose both the series in the absence of their mainstays as Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje (both Delhi Capitals), Quinton de Kock (Mumbai Indians), David Miller (Rajasthan Royals), and Lungi Ngidi (Chennai Super Kings) travelled to India, leaving the management to pick a second-string side for the final ODI against Pakistan when the series was levelled 1-1.

You want to have the best team available all the time: Paul Adams

“In an ODI series, every game is important because it is about how you can qualify for the next world cup (in India). So, there is no dead rubber in any ODI series. You want to have the best team available all the time. The 2023 World Cup is way down the line but [to eye] qualification is very important,” Adams said.

Notably, Pakistan went onto win both the series as they clinched the final game of the ODI series to seal it 2-1, followed by a 3-1 win in the T20I series. The ODI series victory led Pakistan a\to second place in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League table, while the Proteas are 11th, only ahead of Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.

The top seven teams in the table and host India will automatically qualify for the World Cup while the bottom five will play a qualifying tournament. Since each ODI match has 10 points on offer, there is no dead rubber in any series.

“This one was tricky for South Africa because IPL was going to happen and the Pakistan series came late in the program. But in losing few senior players to a domestic tournament, it is worth questioning — which one is more important? End of the day, money does talk to a lot of them but I think it will make South African cricket a bit wiser,” added the 44-year-old Adams,

“I think there was an opportunity to also look at the next level of players and also for the coach how he manages those resources because at any given day… you have an answer on who are the next players, back-up players.”

He, however, said that CSA will need to be careful going forward. “How do we manage the players? IPL is a tough tournament where players get good experience but you also have to manage your calendar,” he added further.