With some very big wins in the 2023 ICC World Cup, South Africa from being dark horses of the tournament is emerging as one of the favourites to lift the cup. The Resurgent South African team has put their might into this edition and will be a serious contender along with the host.

Presented By: Raghunath Nair

Introduction

South Africa like New Zealand is considered the unluckiest team never to have lifted the World Cup Trophy with New Zealand being the 2019 finalist.

The South African team has always been a competitive team in ICC tournaments and is never taken lightly by any opponent.

In the past, South Africans have produced superstars like Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers etc, but an ICC trophy has always eluded them.

In the past, they have threatened to take the tournament by storm only to falter at the last stage.

They have been famously nicknamed “The Chokers” because of their inability to cross the finish line in major ICC Tournaments.

2023 – The Resurgent South Africans

The Proteas flew under the radar for most part of the year until they arrived for the World Cup in India. They have been at their best batting form with all their batsman in red-hot form with the batting line-up averaging 41.66 in 2023. This is the highest among all the teams participating in the tournament.

The batting order is experienced and having played the IPL, Indian conditions are not foreign to them.

The 2023 World Cup edition has a resurgent South African who has with their aggressive batting mode posted scores in excess of 300 in all the three times they batted first barring the one time when they hit a speedbump against the Dutch team.

This could be their best chance to stake a claim on the silverware. Their best chance in the ICC Cricket World Cup was in the 2015 edition where they suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals to the Kiwis.

The Proteas is one of the best teams in the 2023 edition so far.

Unlike other teams, the Proteas have not made many changes from their disastrous 2019 campaign, instead have put faith in their team under Temba Bavuma.  JP Duminy has taken up the batting coach role and his experience playing in India will prove priceless for the team.

A reason could be South Africa unlike other countries has failed to create a talent pool of young players.

As mentioned, we see the same team that played the 2019 World Cup in the 2023 edition. This could be because of various factors but it is a fact that barring a few youngsters who have come into the South African squad, the talent pool has dried up.

While this should sound like a negative for the Proteas, it has turned out to be an advantage with the existing team members considerably improving their game since the 2019 campaign. The current Proteas team has excelled on the world stage recently with a series win against the Aussies just before the start of their World Cup campaign. They are playing like a team possessed in the ongoing 2023 Cricket World Cup.

The Squad –

 Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee are the two new faces in the South African side who has been an excellent support to Kagiso Rabada who was handicapped because of the last-minute injury to his new ball partner Anrich Nortje. Marco Jansen is slowly making a name as a genuine allrounder in the team.

The biggest change that has happened in the squad is the multi-fold improvement of their key players like Aiden Markaram who has transformed himself from a good batsman to a great limited-over batsman.

David Miller has been in the South African squad for a long time but his transition from an inconsistent player to a consistent and reliable one has come after his stint with the Gujarat Titans.

Over the past 2 IPL editions, Miller has been the go-to player for captain Hardik Pandya when the team needed quick runs. David Miller now has realised his true potential and has carried his IPL form into his national side and is now an integral part of the power batters for the Proteas.

Back up Wicket-keeper in the team, Henrick Klassen has proven to be the most consistent batsman in the team which has helped the middle to lower middle order batting lineup.

 Quinton de Kock is a player with a mission this World Cup. He has already announced his ODI retirement after this World Cup, which gives an added incentive to do well. He is a major player in the squad and his IPL stint will help South Africa get a good start.

Captain of the Ship

Captain Temba Bavuma has been in the eye of the storm for the past few years due to his inconsistency and questions were being asked on his leadership. He was severely criticized for his own contribution to the team. He was overlooked in the IPL auction and almost ignored in the South African Domestic T20 franchise cricket tournament.

Captain Temba Bavuma has taken all criticism on his chin and focussed on building up a strong ODI team from the limited options available.

He has also been true to admit mistakes when made. He did not brush the Netherland’s loss under the carpet and was quite candid on his views on the disappointing loss and how South Africans had to wipe the “Chokers” tag from their resume.

Temba Bavuma has handled the press well especially during the Netherland loss which has helped the team to come back strongly into the tournament.

Campaign so far

Against Sri Lanka, Batting First, they scored 428/5 and won by 102 runs

Against Australia, Batting First, they scored 311/7 and won by 134 runs

Against Netherlands, they Bowled first and managed to only score 207 in the chase and lost by 38 runs.

Against Bangladesh, Batting First, they scored 382/ 5 and won the match by 149 runs

Conclusion

South Africa was tested when they batted second against the Netherlands which proved that there are still nerves in the team batting second which needs to be addressed. Spin Bowling is still not at the level of some of the big teams and could come back to haunt them in the tournament. We at Supersports wish the Proteas the very best in their World Cup Campaign.