JP Duminy needs to show how much his break helped

JP Duminy decided not to bank his Indian Premier League (IPL) pay cheque because he wanted to focus on the Proteas.

The left-hander spent six weeks at home working on various aspects of his game.

Also read: The Proteas’ depressing history in the Champions Trophy

“I certainly put in a lot of hard work,” the 33-year-old said on Thursday head of South Africa’s first match in the ICC Champions Trophy against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

“The main thing for me was to try to be mentally fresh for this tournament and what actually lies ahead on the tour of England. I feel I’ve achieved that with my break. In terms of my skills, there were definitely one or two things I needed to work on. I’m hoping it pays off.”

Indeed, Duminy’s decision to put national interest first is something to be lauded.

But it’s not going to relieve any of the pressure on him.

The experienced international is still criticised for not playing to his full potential and a promising home season tailed off with a poor tour of New Zealand.

If Duminy took a break for six weeks, you can bet the South African cricket public is insisting on results.

That’s the name of the game in this country.

Despite showing good form in the Proteas’ warm-up matches on their tour, he’s yet to translate that into a big score on the biggest stage.

And that means the mental “freshness” Duminy tried to achieve with his break will now have to come in handy.

“When you play for South Africa, every game is important,” he said.

“The team and I don’t want to put extra pressure on ourselves thinking we need to win this tournament. We definitely want to but we’ll take it game by game. Personally, I don’t feel there’s added pressure. My expectations for myself are always high.

“That never changes, so that’s my mindset.”

Duminy embraces the responsibilities that comes with being a senior player but he also believes it’s time for younger if established players like Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and David Miller to pull their weight too.

“I think our responsibility to contribute should be equally spread. We’ve learned on this tour already that we all need to stay in the moment and keep calm in the pressure moments,” he said.

“Whether you’re young or experienced, that doesn’t change. It applies to everyone.”

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