ODI series win against Australia was ‘light at the end of tunnel’: Mark Boucher

South Africa coach Mark Boucher has termed his side’s ODI series win against Australia as ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ after facing a difficult first season in-charge of the men’s national side. Earlier this year, the Proteas had whitewashed Australia in the three-match ODI series at home.

Boucher had taken over in December last year and oversaw a Test and T20 series loss to England, a rain-affected drawn ODI series, a T20I series loss against Australia, before finally a win in the ODI series against the side from Down Under.

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“The exciting thing was in white-ball cricket, to see the guys grow a bit. We gave quite a lot of opportunities to youngsters and they started to gel as a team and not allow one particular guy to carry them through. Our performance against Australia was the light at the end of the tunnel but it’s not that it’s the finished product,” ESPNCricinfo quoted Boucher as saying.

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As the world has been sent into lockdown as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic, Boucher has said that it has not disrupted the training regimes of the South African side.

“I don’t think it has really disrupted our plans. We were always going to be having a break at this time. The plan was to give the guys some off time, to travel a bit, spend some time with the families, they are certainly spending some time with the families now but not traveling and there’s time to get rid of a few niggles their bodies have picked up,” he added.

Last month, South Africa was slated to play three-match ODI series against India. The first ODI was abandoned due to rain and after that, the series was called off as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.