The recent ODI law changes regarding fielding restrictions in the last 10 overs will take centre stage when South Africa and Bangladesh start their three-match series on Friday. Kobus Pretorius reports.

All-rounder Ryan McLaren is back in the national fold after the disappointment of missing out on selection for the World Cup and says he is raring to go should he get picked to play.

‘It’s a fresh start,’ McLaren said. ‘I have had a few months to work on a couple of things in my game. It’s new conditions, it’s my first series in Bangladesh and it’s going to be a tough series. They have played a lot of good cricket, especially against India, and there is no doubt we are expecting a challenging series.

‘On a personal note, I’m really just looking forward to representing South Africa again.’

With the ICC recently changing the rules to remove the batting power play and allowing five fielders outside the ring in the last 10 overs, McLaren said it would offer bowlers a slight reprieve. This is the first time the Proteas will be playing under the new rules.

‘It will be interesting to see how the batting team structures their innings,’  he said. ‘Maybe they will go slightly harder at the initial phase of the innings, we will wait and see, every team is going to have a different opinion on that. It will obviously be a bit of a trial and error method in the beginning.

‘If you look at the statistics from the World Cup it was quite clear to see that over the last 10 overs there were many occasions where more than 100 runs were scored.

‘It shows that the batsmen were dominating the bowling in that facet of the game. There is no doubt that from a bowling point of view the new rules help but I don’t think it’s going to change the mindset of the batters.’