Jannatul Naym Pieal South Africa’s decade-long history of starting slowly on tours, both home and away, will be exacerbated by the conditions in Bangladesh, but their coach Russell Domingo is confident that the decision not to hold a pre-tour camp of any description – either in Pretoria or even in Dhaka - will not backfire. “We have spoken in great detail about the issue of slow starts over the past year and put it to bed. Our results have shown that we have overcome that perceived weakness,” Domingo said this week. So the squad will assemble on Monday and fly the same day, as “cold” and, conventionally speaking, as underprepared as any Proteas squad of the past 20 years. Domingo, like predecessor Gary Kirsten, is convinced that the most important pre-paration takes place in the head, not in the nets. It certainly helps that the least important fixtures take place before the two Test matches, with two T20 internationals preceding three ODIs at the start of the tour. “There isn’t too much we can do regarding physical preparation. The schedule is what it is. We have one warm-up T20 match as well as the normal net sessions and middle practice sessions. “Bangladesh are playing well and have been involved in a few big series, including the [recent 2-1 ODI series] win against India, so we need to be on top of our game from the outset. We know that,” Domingo said before referring, with an understandably wizened weariness, to an old theme. “Our players will be coming off a good month of rest. If we play week in and week out, players are jaded and we are criticised for that. But if you have a month or two off, players are rusty and we are criticised for that. You can’t win. We just need to prepare well and train hard for five days and get straight back into it. That’s the bottom line.” Faf du Plessis was certainly grateful for the break: “The time away from the game has been much needed, especially for the guys that go to the IPL [Indian Premier League] every year as we hardly get a good break at home and have a lot of cricket coming up this season. So mentally it is great that we’ve had time off.” The Bangladeshi team is not what it once was. An ever-changing line-up of well-connected recent school-leavers and 21-year-olds has evolved into a squad of seasoned, experienced cricketers. Selection is consistent, eccentric or outspoken individuals are no longer immediately discarded, the first-class structure is working and the players are awash with confidence under an excellent coach, Sri Lankan Chandika Hathurusingha. However Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza thinks that the Proteas will be tougher opponents than India were. He also believes South Africa are a way more balanced side than India. “India are strong in batting, but not with the ball. I had said before the series that we would win if our bowlers could stop their batsmen. And it happened so,” Mortaza said. “But,” he added, “We’ll have to do well in every area if we want to beat South Africa because they do not have any weaknesses.” He also thinks South Africa have better bowling attack. “We can think of victory if India set a target of 270 runs, but it will be difficult to chase 270 runs against South Africa,” he said. Though world’s premium fast bowler Dale Steyn is not coming, Mashrafe thinks their pace attack will be strong while spinner Imran Tahir adds variation. He warned the Tigers about the South Africa bating as well. “Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Rilee Rossouw – all are match winners. “De Villiers alone is enough to thrash any team,” Mortaza said. South Africa’s tour of Bangladesh that begins next week is likely signal the start of a new era. The locals are not yet setting their sights too high, especially for the longer formats. Their first Test draw against Pakistan in nine attempts in Khulna two months ago was celebrated nationwide with no apology. It was a draw with honour, too, and a high-scoring one. Flat, batting-friendly pitches will face the Proteas in both Chittagong and Mirpur, Dhaka, for the Test matches, with spin only seriously coming into play on the final two days. Survival will be straightforward, but run scoring will not be fluent and patience will be paramount. A South African team made to scrape and scrounge for their runs will be victory enough for the home side. A South African team eager to avoid doing so by dominating too early may end up red-faced. South Africa will play two Tests, three one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches on their month-long tour of Bangladesh starting in July. The tour will start with the first T20 on July 5 in Mirpur, followed by the ODI series and the Test matches. Chittagong will host the world's top-ranked Test side in the first Test from July 21 with the second and final Test in Mirpur from July 30.