The South African public is
quite excited about the World Cup this year as they feel that their team is
strongest in the One Day International format right now and if their players
don’t choke at a crucial stage as they have been doing for the last 22 years,
the team can bring the trophy home this time.
Ahead of almost every World
Cup, South Africa happens to be one of the most spoken about teams, but, rarely
do they make it big when the actual show time comes. They would obviously say
that luck has played tricks with them a couple of times and that’s true, but,
they have lost opportunities by themselves as well. The last time around when
the World Cup took place in the subcontinent, they beat India in the group
stages, but, then, in the quarter finals, they lost to New Zealand which was a
shock for everyone.
The South African players
seem to get into the occasion a bit too much. They should learn from some of
the other teams, India for example. India would fall far behind South Africa in
terms of talent, but, when it comes to big nights, the Indian players just
don’t get flustered and believe themselves to beat any team that they come
across. South Africa needs the same sort of belief because if all the departments
click for them, they can be bullish, absolutely bullish.
When the World Cup had
happened Down Under in 1992, South Africa had made the final 4 and could have
made the final too, but, the untimely rain and the strange setting of the
revised target denied them that opportunity. They needed 22 runs in 13 balls to
beat England in the semis and then, after rain, their revised target was set to
22 off 1 ball. It was heart breaking for them to lose that way.
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