Johannesburg - South Africa captain George van Heerden has vowed to adopt an aggressive approach as the Under-19 Cricket World Cup begins, in the West Indies, on Friday.
Hosts West Indies open the tournament with a clash against Australia in Providence.
Van Heerden said: “We want to be as aggressive and attacking as we possible can without being frantic.
“We’ve learned a lot about the conditions – playing in St Vincent, the pitches were quite a bit slower than we were used to and turned quite a lot more than the pitches back in South Africa.”
South Africa won the Under-19 Cricket World Cup back in 2014, and have seen a number of members of that side go on to successful senior careers like Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram.
Adapting to the conditions in the West Indies would be key, said Van Heerden.
“With all the different grounds in West Indies, we’ve looked at the average scores and some of them are a bit lower than we’re used to back home.
“We might have to be a bit more measured in our approach and it won’t be as helter-skelter as the T20s were. We’ll still stick to our brand of being attacking and aggressive though.”
South Africa’s first assignment in Group B will be against India, in Guyana, on Saturday.
🌟 The @upstox Then and Now XI looks at the best players that excelled at the #U19CWC and continued to dominate international cricket.
Details 👉 https://t.co/Uwey4lJyVr pic.twitter.com/0BKgsg1Xu6
India will be captained by Yash Dhull and coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar believes the youngster has the perfect temperament for the job.
"The primary quality you need to become a captain of any team is that you should have the respect of your team,” said Kanitkar.
“Without that, you can be a good captain or player, but you would not be able to do the job. Yash has got the respect of all his players.”
Dhull, meanwhile, said he wants to be like current India captain Virat Kohli.
“Virat Kohli's attitude on the field while batting and leading the side, I have the same and I try to do the job in the same manner.”
IOL Sport