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South Africa's white-ball coach Rob Walter believes teenage prodigy Kwena Maphaka has massive potential moving forward. Walter opined that playing in the IPL in front of a massive crowd at the Wankhede Stadium should keep him in good stead ahead of a potential international debut.
After finishing this year's U19 World Cup as the leading wicket-taker, the 18-year-old earned himself an IPL deal with the Mumbai Indians. The left-arm seamer registered eye-watering figures of 4-0-66-0 on debut and dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal for his maiden IPL scalp, returning with a haul of 2-0-23-1.
With a likely T20I debut against the West Indies looming, the Proteas coach feels the youngster's calmness has been impressive and that this tour was the ideal opportunity for his debut. As quoted by SA Cric Mag, he said:
"We were chatting about the IPL experience and, as much as the performance wasn’t there, there are not many schoolboys who can say they’ve already run out in front of a full Wankhede and got that under the belt."
"Skillsets aside, I love his mindset and his calmness, and we see him as a strong potential for the Proteas moving forward. It was an ideal opportunity to get him on tour and into the system.”
The Johannesburg-born cricketer has a decent T20I record, picking up 14 scalps in 11 matches at 21.71 apiece.
"The media reports do sometimes add a bit of pressure on young guys" - Rob Walter
Rob Walter also underlined the need to keep Maphaka grounded without adding any pressure, regardless of performance. He added:
"As a young guy, it will be up to him and his support group, of which we are only one portion, to keep things in perspective. The media reports do sometimes add a bit of pressure on young guys if they read a little bit."
"It's to keep him grounded and to understand that he is under no time pressures. We don’t need to speed this thing along. We just need to assist him and support him in the best way possible to be ready."
All three T20Is between South Africa and the West Indies will take place in Tarouba.
