ICC Cricket World Cup is around the corner where India, Australia and England are considered favourites. However, South Africa could be the dark horse in the tournament. Captain Faf du Plessis believed that every team are able to win the title. He further shared that they will play without worrying.
“Compared to the previous tournaments, teams that we’ve had, it’s a lot younger in terms of the names that we have on the team sheet. With that comes exciting opportunities for younger players. We’ve got some experienced campaigners that have been to World Cups. But there’s absolutely no guarantee that South Africa will come here and win the tournament. There are 10 high-quality teams,” said du Plessis.
“For us, there were some really good times when we have played in the previous World Cups. Really enjoyed that we started playing some of our best cricket towards the end of the (2015) tournament. Had a really good game against Sri Lanka in the quarterfinal and then a fantastic game of cricket against New Zealand, who were better than us on the day,” he added.
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“As long as you’re doing that, that’s all you can control. If you’re playing your best cricket, if the opposition is better than you on that day then you hold your head up high and say ‘well done’,” said du Plessis, while talking about the previous edition of the World Cup.
“You can’t control history. I’m a firm believer that you can’t control the past or the future. All you can try and focus on is what’s there ahead of you. If that’s good enough on the day then it’s great. If it’s not, as I said, as long as the opposition is playing better than you, then it’s okay,” he further said.
“It’s about a year or two about planning, putting teams together, putting players together, putting game plans together. Just excited for the tournament to start actually now. It’s been a long process of looking forward to the World Cup and in a week’s time we’ll get there,” du Plessis explained.
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As the recent 50-over games have seen the total scores crossed 500, it is expected that the upcoming tournament will see some of the high scoring games. However, Faf du Plessis believed that there are many bowlers who will play important roles for their respective teams.
“There are a few X factor bowlers with all the teams who are going to play a pivotal role,” said du Plessis. “Your bowling attack and the kind of wicket-takers you have in your resources is going to be important for all of us as captains,” du Plessis further added.
South Africa will take on England on the very first day of the tournament in Kennington Oval, London.
