ICC World Cup 2019: Will South Africa belie ‘The Chokers’ tag this time? 

With just 12 days left for the World Cup , the expectations of fans are already at the peak. Some teams like that of New Zealand, England, South Africa and Bangladesh have not been able to prove their caliber. Although they have many world class players, these teams have not been able to win even a single World Cup Trophy till date. Today we will discuss about the chokers, that is South Africa. The excellent performance of the South African players in various international matches, especially in IPL, has made them crowd favorites. Let us thoroughly analyze the South African team. 

Captain 

The team is in the right hands as it is led by Faf Du Plesis. Plesis’s calm and composed nature is a boon to the team and has helped the team tide over many tough situations. Plesis debuted against India and scored a half century in his first match itself. Faf was handed over the reins of captainship post AB de Villiers’ stepping down in 2013. Plesis along with Amla and de Villiers make it really tough for the opposition to fetch wickets, though De Villiers has called it quits and is not a part of the World Cup team this time. Together they are called Big Three of South African Cricket Team. Faf is an ace batsman and has played 134 matches till date. He has scored a total of 5120 runs at a strike rate of 88.49. 

Batsmen 

The team’s batting is in the hands of players like David Miller, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla and  Rassie Van Der Dussen. It is led by David Miller, a batsman known for his power-hitting. Due to his consistent performance at home, he was selected in the South African national team for the tour of the West Indies in May-June 2010. Miller’s unbeaten 138 off 92 balls against Zimbabwe, in World Cup 2015, won South Africa the match with ease. Hashim Amla, South African batting legend, is one of the finest batsmen in the World. Amla is known to adapt his game as per the demands of the situation. Coming as the sole wicket keeper of the South Africa’s 2019 World Cup squad, is Quinton De Kock. An accomplished wicket-keeper, De Kock is a very talented and attacking batsman. The fact that he is young is another plus point.  

  Below is a list of all the batsman of South Africa’s 2019 World Cup squad. 

 All Rounders 

South Africa has included some very talented all-rounders in the team. Led by vastly experienced JP Duminy, the list consists of players like experienced Chris Morris, young Andile Phelukwayo & Dwaine Pretorius. 

Following is the list of all-rounders of South Africa’s 2019 World Cup squad. 

 Bowlers 

The bowling department is well led by players like Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn and Tabraiz Shamsi. A seamer par excellence, Rabada bowls a very tight line & length at a decent pace and hardly gives the opposition an opportunity to score many runs. Rabada is supported by another aggressive youngster, Lungi Ngidi, who too bowls at a quick pace. Something that both these players have in common, apart from being seamers, is that both were formerly substituted in place of Dale Steyn. How can we forget about one of the best bowlers of South Africa? A World Class bowler, Steyn is a match winner for South Africa. Although Steyn is injury prone, he’s taken wickets for South Africa regularly. Let us enlist the bowlers of South Africa.  

Post analysis, we can conclude that the South African team is composed of World class players. But this is not for the first time that South Africa is entering an international competition with a strong team. Even in the past, players like Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Ab de Villiers, Alan Donald, etc represented South Africa in the World Cup but none could win help them win the World Cup. Hopefully, the players will live up to the expectations of their fans this time around and create history by winning the World Cup for the very first time.