South African legend Mark Boucher heaps praise on ‘special’ Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The intense five-match T20I series between India and South Africa has ended in a stalemate after the decider was washed out by rain at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. 

India did well to come back from 2-0 down to level the series 2-2. 

The series marked the start of Rishabh Pant's stint as captain. Though the series ended in a draw, fans and pundits have commended Pant’s efforts in getting the team to level terms after losing the first two matches of the series. 

While there are several takeaways for both the squads, one such takeaway for the Men in Blue would be Bhuvneshwar Kumar's improved and economical spells. By scalping six wickets for 85 runs in the whole series, he has earned a lot of plaudits. 

The Indian pacer registered his best figures of 4/13 in the four matches played. Undoubtedly, Kumar has established himself as a white-ball specialist for the team.

The South African head coach Mark Boucher has now heaped praise on the Indian pacer after the series. He has hailed Bhuvi's spell as a Special one. He stated, "Bhuvi was special in this whole series as we came up against some quality bowling. He put us under pressure in Powerplays, and barring one game (Delhi), where we got off to a good start, they have dominated us with both ball and bat in Powerplays."

The Proteas head coach also outlined the impact the absence of Aiden Markram has had on the series, as he could have changed the result for South Africa's batting department. 

He said, “It was tough losing Aiden Markram even before we started the first game. We wanted to play six batters with Aiden being our sixth option and we couldn’t do that.” 

Boucher had even cited a long IPL season as being one of the reasons for a draw result in the series. 

“We didn’t play our best cricket and it was quite tough on our IPL players to stay throughout the whole IPL and then come to India back-to-back as well. Guys are a little bit tired as well. So they will all enjoy the break and (having learnt a) lot of lessons in World Cup year. And see, if we can plug a few gaps going into Australia albeit in different conditions,” said Boucher. 

Mark Boucher has also appreciated the performances of the new Indian squad. Without the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, the young and inexperienced side have shown their calibre. 

He said, “I know there weren’t a lot of top (India) players over here but the depth that Indian cricket has at the moment largely due to the IPL, they can take a lot of confidence as well.” “You just can't walk up in India and expect to win a series as well. So, we played a couple of good games and two bad games and there are a couple of reasons for that, but you can’t get too much into it.” 

The head coach also spoke about the upcoming challenge against Australia. South Africa will take on the Aussies on their home turf. 

He said, "Plans will change in Australia and we are aware of that. We tried a few options in these conditions and saw if they worked or not. And I think, we asked a few questions and we got some good answers.

“We struggled to get going in a few of the games and we speak about it after every game and maybe see how we can change our mindset and intent, especially after the third game, when we went after with the intent we needed. 

“And our bowling at certain stages was very good and at certain stages, we looked rusty and sort of understand that couple of guys coming into the series after IPL and maybe a bit tired,” added Boucher.