Wiaan Mulder putting in hard yards to cement Proteas spot

Since then, the 26-year-old has managed only 15 Tests, 20 One-Day Internationals, and 11 T20 Internationals, with a prolonged absence prior to Rob Walter and Shukri Conrad taking over the white and red-ball formats respectively.

Mulder, who registered an impressive 4/62 with the ball and a maiden Test half-century with the bat in the recent victory over Bangladesh in Dhaka, shed light on his initial struggles.

"I think, to put it the basics are to work on a lot of mental stuff. I found when I started international cricket i was really young naive and didn't really understand quite what I'm getting myself into really and I couldn't really deal with the pressures, I'd say," Mulder said.

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However, a few tweaks and self-discovery from working under former Proteas boss Mark Boucher, to his time in English County Cricket, and more recently under Russel Domingo, Haashim Amla, and Allan Donald at the Lions, is what he credits for his resurgence.

"It was obviously a couple of technical things that I had to change. Mark Boucher was a big part in my development in terms of understanding my technique, what's required of me in the team environment,” he added.

“I had to go back to domestic cricket and cricket in England to try and get better, try and understand a bit better what's my way of going about things. The last two seasons with Russel Domingo as head coach at the Lions have clarified a lot of my doubts and a lot of the things that I felt I had to iron out on my game.

“He kind of guided me on that process with Hashim Amla and Allan Donald really well to kind of find my blueprint in a way. I'm 26, I'm still learning a lot about my game so to say I understand it fully will be a blatant lie."