Proteas batsman Rassie van der Dussen says the absence of Temba Bavuma and the six IPL players was evident throughout the T20I series defeat by Pakistan.

The South Africans conceded a 3-1 loss on Friday when they went down to Babar Azam’s charges once again in another thrilling encounter at SuperSport Park.

READ: Pakistan edge Proteas to claim series win

But, despite glimpses of potential success and a few individual moments of brilliance throughout the series, the unavailability of Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Faf du Plessis and Anrich Nortje ultimately led to a number of shortcomings in the inexperienced squad.

‘It’s been challenging, but if you take seven of a team’s best players out of any side in the world, they will probably be up against it,’ Van der Dussen, who has been in good batting form against Pakistan, said after Friday’s match.

‘The guys that came in were brilliant in stages. As a team, we didn’t show the consistency that we needed. We played one game, the second game at the Wanderers where we put in a complete performance.

‘We were patchy in the other games, which was disappointing, but we know, when we click as a team, even with seven new guys, we could beat a world-class side like Pakistan.’

With the South African cricket season now officially completed, the T20 World Cup in India will soon become the focus point for the Proteas.

Tours to the West Indies and Ireland will be the first order of business, where Van der Dussen hopes the Proteas will be able to find a better balance with all the key players back in the team.

‘We’ll get a more balanced view of where we are when we get to the West Indies. Hopefully we’ll have a full squad available and we can start building momentum from there,’ he added.