South African skipper Faf du Plessis reckons that in the upcoming ICC World Cup, the hosts England and two-time champions India will be the hot favorites to lift the trophy. After facing a demoralizing exit from World Cup 2015, England team has witnessed some drastic changes in their style of play and has been playing some great cricket. Playing in the home conditions will definitely provide them with a huge advantage.
Also, India has been playing some dominating cricket in ODI cricket in recent times, irrespective of the conditions. However, Faf du Plessis seemed to be optimistic about South Africa’s chances too. He noted that his team will end the tournament with subdued expectations and it will work to their advantage.
South Africa came extremely close to lifting the trophy in the World Cup 2015. However, they were pipped out by New Zealand in the semi-final which resulted in yet another knockout exit. Since then, a few important players including AB de Villiers have retired and it is a young team now. Therefore, Faf du Plessis believes that the expectations won’t be high.
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As quoted by ARY Sports, Proteas skipper said, “We will go with a little bit less pressure on us as a team in terms of the expectation of winning it. It is pretty clear that England and India are the two favorites. We are a young group and the guys are just excited about the opportunity.”
Du Plessis also seemed to be wary of the media hype ahead of the tournament. He said, “We have gone to tournaments in the past where we have felt like we had the strongest team on paper, but cricket is not played on paper. When opponents look at us now, we are not the strongest team. But when a South Africa team goes to the World Cup, the chat in the media starts, even the opposition starts to chat!”
The Proteas skipper also said that it hurt after the exit in World Cup 2015. He said that the cricketers shouldn’t put a lot of expectations and an additional burden on them. Faf wants his players to express themselves and play with a lot of freedom.
