GERALD Coetzee has returned to international cricket, having been included in the Proteas T20I squad for the ongoing four-match series against India.
The youngster sustained a side strain injury during Major League Cricket in the United States of America in July and was subsequently ruled out of the West Indies Test series.
The injury led the coaches to decide to place the 24-year-old in a 12-week conditioning break to get him in the best possible physical condition for the busy home summer, which got underway at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban yesterday.
The fast bowler told Independent Newspapers that the injury did frustrate him.
“It was frustrating,” said Coetzee.
“But I’ve played the game long enough to know that these things do happen and it doesn’t help pondering and being frustrated for too long because it’s mostly out of our control when things like that happen. So, it was frustrating but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.”
Despite having played already this season in the Cricket South Africa T20 Challenge last month, Coetzee added that he is excited to be back competing at the highest level.
He is focused on using the series to improve and is aware that playing India always brings different pressures.
“To be back, personally, I’m very glad to be back and playing again as a competitor. I love competing so whenever there’s an opportunity to compete against the best in the world, that is a great bonus,” he said.
“There is a bit more excitement (when playing against India than playing other countries). People know that India just won the World Cup now and they are always a quality side. Indian fans are always passionate which is good for the game. It feels like the appreciation and excitement is definitely on the up.”
Right from the beginning of his career, Coetzee has been known for his fierce competitiveness and wants to use the ongoing series to improve his game plans and his skill sets.
“I believe that I’ve always been competitive. It’s just my way of expressing myself. I wear my heart on the sleeve and I’m an open book on the field,” said Coetzee.
“I like to think of myself as a ‘100-percenter’ in that I like to leave everything out there and that all adds up to a lot of passion being shown on the field.
“I just want to keep getting better, improving on skills and improving on plans. That’s the goal for every series that I ask myself where can we become better? Most importantly, we want to win the series but learn in the process of whatever may happen.”
The second T20I gets underway at 4pm in Gqeberha tomorrow.