Proteas coach welcomes glut of T20I matches to build squad ahead of World Cup

Conrad, who led the Proteas to the World Test Championship (WTC) trophy in June, has been in the white-ball role since May and has a T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe, that also featured New Zealand, under his belt.

The matches in Zimbabwe saw several senior players rested after their WTC exploits with the core of the squad now back to face Australia in three T20I matches beginning in Darwin.

The Proteas will also play series in the shortest format against England and Pakistan, one in Namibia in October to open their new stadium, and five each against India away and West Indies at home before the T20 World Cup.

Conrad told reporters from Darwin: "I've only been in the job a few months so it's not as if I've had a year or so to look at what potentially is going to be our best squad to go to India.

"It's about developing, winning, and then potentially getting to what our best squad is for the conditions in India.

"So I think these tours have great value for me as a new head coach, for the coaching staff."

A noticeable change in the Proteas white-ball set-up since Conrad took over is the need to include more allrounders in the starting XI.

Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi have not been not been selected in favour of George Linde and Senuran Muthusamy, with the latter duo offering more to the side with the bat.

"It's ideal if you can stack your side with as many allrounders as possible," Conrad added.

"And when I say allrounders, I mean fully-fledged allrounders, guys that offer quite a lot with the bat, and obviously with the ball as well."

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