Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, and Keshav Maharaj take us inside South Africa's T20 camp in the United Arab Emirates to reflect about the team's progress over the previous year.

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"I'm sure I'll spend some time thinking about it in the next few days," adds Rassie van Der Dussen, South Africa's leading run-scorer in the UAE this month. “We tend to fall asleep in front of movies, so it'll be a series,” says Dussen.

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We spend a lot of time in the room, although we have a nice living area with a huge TV. Of course, you have to be active. I have a lot of fitness gadgets to play with, and the hotel has amenities. The hotel's gym serves as both a team room and a medical centre on the lowest floor.

Spinner Keshav Maharaj, another member of the group, characterises the temporary arrangement as "not ideal," but says he's trying to make the best of it. He adds saying It is what it is. Because there are so many disparities, I try to make myself feel as at ease as possible.

He also said I am a really tidy and clean person and he appreciates neatness. According to him, There's nothing more irritating than an untidy room with soiled linens. It irritates him greatly.

“With no cleaners coming into the rooms I spend time making myself more comfortable by keeping my room in check,” he said

In the hotel room, the squad has a cordoned-off eating area where they dine, drink coffee, and watch sports together.

They met on Saturday, October 2 to see South Africa defeat New Zealand 31-29 in the Rugby Championship. "Watching other South African teams brings us closer to home," Maharaj adds.

A quick glance around the team meeting confirms that this group is capable of repeating the Springboks' achievement. Van Der Dussen and Maharaj have both played international cricket, while Reeza Hendricks and Dwaine Pretorius have made significant progress in the previous 12 months. Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, and others will join the group from the IPL.

Former Proteas JP Duminy and Charl Langeveldt are on the coaching staff, with Mark Boucher directing the programme as head coach. Although the personnel are all fresh to the position, performance and outcomes in 2021 suggest that South Africa's trajectory may be improving.

Triumphs across both Test and T20 series in the Caribbean were preceded by T20 whitewashes of Ireland and Sri Lanka in July and

September, indicating that the squad is benefiting from having an extra year of preparation ahead of a big event.

"We've had a great year," Van Der Dussen adds. "We've been in a variety of situations and have adapted really well."

"A year ago, we were certainly less experienced. We’re in a good place now." In recent years, the captaincy has also changed hands. Temba Bavuma took over as South Africa's T20 captain on a permanent basis in March, and has subsequently overseen a series of excellent performances.

I suppose there was some early nervousness and trepidation about how I might lead the team to new heights, but I genuinely liked it. I'm fortunate in that I've played with many of the players since school, so I understand and appreciate them. They appear to be on my side.

When AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, and Morne Morkel were still at the helm of the Proteas, Bavuma broke into the team.

A large part of his work entails relaying his experience playing alongside the game's legends to the rest of the group.

He explains, "I get a lot of inspiration from Amla in particular."

But for Van Dussen, mental preparation is equally as important as physical preparation as he tries to avoid burnout ahead of a demanding few weeks of cricket.

"You put in all the hours you need to," he adds, "and then it's really stressful on game night."

“I finish my practice and mentally switch off so that the next time I'm on the field, my head is completely prepared,” Van Dussen signs off.

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