All the Proteas have to do to realise the task that lies ahead of them in India is to look up from the HPCA Ground ahead of their game on Sunday.
There, to the east and north, they will see the Himalayas, the tallest mountains in the world.
For those of you who don’t know, this year was the most deadly for mountaineers in modern times in the famed mountain range - its highest peak being Everest.
Usually people going up the mountains have experienced sherpas to guide the way. But that’s a luxury the new-look Proteas don’t have in India.
For their T20Is, there will be fresh faces all over the place.
Not least will be interim team director Enoch Nkwe.
The 36-year-old had a breakthrough season in 2018, leading the Lions to the 4-Day Competition, the T20 Challenge and lifted the inaugural MSL title with the Jozi Stars.
Even with such a successful year under his belt, many aren’t giving him a chance to succeed.
And given that he is about to have a baptism of fire in India, this tour, along with the upcoming Test series also on the way, will be a total write-off.
Nkwe, though, has promised his team will entertain, that they will compete.
For that they will need a new approach to strengthen all aspects of their game after a striking imbalance during the last days of Ottis Gibson’s reign.
By the time the Proteas found themselves out of the World Cup in England, they were a bowling side a couple of fast bowlers too few.
This time around, those pacemen will have to be up for the challenge in one of the toughest places to tour.
The subcontinent is not known for its fast pitches to help speedsters and the dusty tracks will test our batsmen when the hosts give the ball to their spinners.
FINISHING SCHOOL: Mentor Lance Klusener. Photo: Supplied.
One feather in Nkwe’s cap will be the recent spin camp that some of the players were on in preparation for the series.
Players were set up with the likes of Paul Adams and Ashwell Prince to get to grips with the conditions and to work on their strategies for facing spin and to rip the leather around.
Also helpful, will be the fact that some of squad have been playing in India already with the South Africa A side.
And while results haven’t been great, those manne have got the time out there against some of India’s best players.
Perhaps they have learnt something.
But one encouraging late addition to the backroom staff could turn into a big plus.
BATTING GURU: Indian coach Amol Muzumdar. Photo: Supplied.
SA have appointed Indian batting coach Amol Muzumdar for the series and I gotta say impressed I’m nogal impressed with his calibre.
While he never played for the national team, he was held out of the side by some huge names.
A top-order batsman, he played in the same school team as Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar, before his drop down the order saw him crowded out his later days by Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
He did, however, score 30 first-class hundreds at an average close to 50 and was a regular in the India A side.
I’m sure he will be very helpful after mentoring the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL and bringing through Indian Test opener Prithvi Shaw.
SHORT ON SHORT FORMAT: Temba Bavuma. Photo: Supplied.
Imagine the work he could do with the likes of Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo.
These guys have talent with the bat, but have obvious shortcomings.
For one, these guys are known for only excelling in one format or inconsistency on the international stage.
Bavuma and Reeza have been out of the loop since before the World Cup and neither of them has really made a case for their inclusion in the limited-over Proteas side.
The expectations on both have been there for a while now and they must kick on now. India is gonna be massive for both their futures.
MAKE OR BREAK: Batsman Reeza Hendricks. Photo: Supplied.
Miller and Andile will have to make more of their big-hitting game too.
They should learnt more than a couple of things from batting coach Lance Klusener.
Individually, this guy would train like an animal in order to hit yorkers to the boundary.
He would spent hours just smashing balls as far as he could out from the blockhole.
In his heyday, Klusener was the ultimate finisher, but one thing that Zulu can teach them is commitment to the cause.
He never gave up hope of a win even when the Proteas seemed down and out when he came in, often with a klomp wickets down and a significant number of runs needed for a decent total or a victory.