On Thursday (18th April), Cricket South Africa (CSA) has announced the 15-member Proteas squad for the upcoming World Cup.
The four-time World Cup semi-finalists South Africa will feature in the upcoming 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. England and Wales will host this tournament from 30th May to 14th July. In this ten-team tournament, South Africa will begin their journey on the opening day. They will play the opening game of the tournament (30th May) against the host side England at The Oval (London).
The fourth-ranked ODI team South Africa is desperate to finish their wait to lift the World Cup trophy in the upcoming edition. They are ready to begin their new World Cup journey under Faf du Plessis‘ captaincy.
Before their new World Cup journey, here we are analysing their World Cup squad.
i) Experiences are the key
The squad has a mixture of experienced and inexperienced players. Among the 15 players, seven players have World Cup experiences, and they are going to be crucial for South Africa in the upcoming tournament.
The experienced World Cup players are Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, David Miller, Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir. Though some of them are currently struggling to perform consistently in the recent international cricket matches, the selectors have put strong faith in them too.
There is no doubt that South Africa’s upcoming World Cup is widely depended on these experienced players. Their consistent positive performances can charge up the South African side which can help them to achieve their best-ever World Cup result.
ii) A lot of pace-bowling option
This South African side has a lot of pace-bowling option. While they have the experienced Dale Steyn, the lesser-experienced bowlers are also strong and sharp. Apart from Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Dwaine Pretorius are also in this pace-bowling squad.
A lot of pace-bowling options can provide tighter situations to select the playing XIs in the upcoming tournament. The pace bowling line-up has enough variable qualities to destroy any strong batting line-up. However, the lack of experiences can also become a strong barrier for this bowling unit.
iii) Time will tell whether they will miss AB de Villiers or not
Since AB de Villiers‘ international retirement last May, South Africa has managed very well in the limited-overs cricket. However, they haven’t also faced many tough international challenges since his retirement.
AB de Villiers was a strong member of this Proteas side. His top-class all-round attitude provided a strong atmosphere in the South African squad during the big matches. Though South Africa has maintained the bright performances even after his retirement, their big tests are yet to come.
The present South African team has enough potential to beat any side in the upcoming World Cup. However, they have also the vast records of choking in the big moments of international cricket.
The 15-member South African squad for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup:
Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir and Rassie van der Dussen.