As has been the case for a more than a decade now, South Africa started a major tournament as one of the favorites, but limped out of it after the group stages, battling many problems, not one. With a batting firepower equivalent to a fantasy team, and a bowling line-up with lots of options, South Africa looked destined to achieve the elusive silverware.
However, they stumbled, yet again, managing only two wins out of their four group matches in the World T20. Here’s a look at some of the reasons why they couldn’t go past the Super10.
#1 Poor Captaincy from Du Plessis:
Faf du Plessis was a key figure for the CSK franchise in the IPL. He has loads of experience of the Indian pitches and conditions, especially in the T20 format. However, his captaincy hardly exuded the confidence of a winner.
There were no innovative field placements, no inspired bowling changes or bold actions. With no proactive decisions, du Plessis went with the same plan, pace upfront, spin in the middle, and more pace at the end. It gave batsmen the time to gauge the bowling and plan accordingly.
The South Africans believe in a “leadership group”, whereby the load of captaincy is split between senior players. Even with an experienced lot, comprising of Amla, De Villiers and Duminy, the team carried on with the same tried and tested methods, which didn't bring the required results.
#2 Uncertainty over AB de Villiers’ position:
De Villiers has been one of the best batsmen in modern cricket, but his T20I record isn’t as remarkable as that in the other two formats. He has not been able to inspire an inconsistent batting line-up to rise from its mediocrity.
Before the World T20 started, De Villiers had partially found form by scoring a half-century against England, only his second fifty in this format till then. There was a lot of talk about giving as many deliveries to De Villiers to settle down, and the importance of providing him the opening slot.
Yet, they persisted with the idea of opening with De Kock and Amla, and AB was suddenly pushed down again, sometimes as low as No.5. Apart from the 64 against Afghanistan, he could make little impact with the bat.
#3 Bowling at the death:
The South African bowling tends to loosen up in the final overs. In the World T20, they leaked bucketful of runs in the death overs, giving the batting team enough leeway to score runs freely.
Even before the World T20 started, the bowling attack gave glimpses of faltering in the final stages of innings, like the time when they failed to defend 204 against Australia in a T20 at the Wanderers.
Against England, the lack of discipline was evident, as they gave as many as 26 extras, and failed to defend a mammoth 229.They ended the Super 10 with 36 wides, by far the most by any team.
Dale Steyn looks a pale shadow of himself, and hasn't been able to make the white ball talk the way he used to. He got hit for 35 runs in two overs, and was dropped for the next match. Each of Wiese, Abbott, Morris and Rabada bled runs heavily in the Group matches.
#4 Team Selection Woes:
No discussion about South Africa’s poor performance can end without discussing about the team selection, which looked dubious at times.
They chose to field a relatively inexperienced pace attack, with no Morne Morkel to support the off-color Steyn. Last season, Morkel had led the depleted pace attack with lots of promise, picking 35 wickets in 13 matches (all formats included) since October last year.
He also has a lot of experience on Indian pitches, having toured the country thrice since his Test debut against the Indians in 2006. He has also represented the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Rajasthan Royals, and the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
In his absence, apart from Steyn, the other pacers comprised of Rabada, Abott, and all-rounders Morris and Wiese. They could have opted for either Morris or Wiese, and could have given Aaron Phangiso, the left-arm spinner, a look-in along with Imran Tahir, given the conditions in India.
Yet, they kept switching between Abbot, Wiese and Morris. Instead of fielding so many pacers, they could have given the Tahir-Phangiso partnership more importance, and should have given Behardien the role of the extra medium pacer.
#5 The fear of failure:
South Africa's inability to perform well in marquee events is a well-documented truth. Since the 1998 ICC Knock-Out trophy, the Proteas haven't been able to win a single international tournament. Add to that their record of choking in knock-out matches, and you have a team which fears failing in every major tournament.
Teams like Afghanistan played to their strengths, however limited they were, and notched up a victory against the West Indies, currently the team to beat in the tournament. South Africa remained under a rut, unable to free themselves from the shackles of the pressure.
The Duckworth-Lewis confusion in the ‘92 World Cup, the brain freeze in the ‘99 World Cup Semi-finals, the mis-calculation in the ‘03 World Cup and the choke in the ‘11 quarter-finals; South Africans have had a torrid time obliterating the memories, and each failure further compounds the pain.
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