ICC World Cup 2019: "We have 11 match-winners," says Dale Steyn

What's the story?

After South Africa's World Cup squad announcement, premier fast bowler Dale Steyn has gone on to say that South Africa have 11 match winners, right from the openers down to the last member in the team.

In case you didn't know...

With the ICC giving a deadline of April 23rd to announce their World Cup squads, many teams have announced their squad for the mega event. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa announced their 15 member squads for the World Cup today.

The Proteas have named a well-balanced squad to feature in the World Cup. The squad features world-class players like skipper Faf Du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada, Quinton De Kock and David Miller among others.

The heart of the matter

Dale Steyn was speaking to reporters in Kolkata where he has joined RCB. RCB take on KKR tomorrow in a match that Bangalore must win to stand any chance of remaining in contention for a place in the playoffs. He said:

"We're going with good expectations. If you're not going to the World Cup expecting to win, then you probably shouldn't go. But I'm not going to lie, we have some fantastic players."

Three of them - Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir and Faf Du Plessis - have been in excellent form for several months, including at the IPL.

"We're led by Faf, who's been in fantastic form lately. And in the IPL, Imran Tahir has been right up there in terms of wickets. From Quinton de Kock all the way down to No. 11, they're all match-winners. We just need to go there and hope a bit of luck - weather, a missed no-ball - goes your way, and you could win the tournament.

"You look at KG [Rabada], he's been bowling exceptionally well. Kagiso is a wunderkind. Just hope he continues that kind of form. He's come on to the scene in international cricket and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. We've seen players come in, show signs of extreme excellence and then fade away, but KG is someone we can get used to."

What's next?

Dale Steyn is not wrong in his assessment that the Proteas have eleven match winners. Each player offers a lot individually and if they click as a team, it would be hard for oppositions to stop them.

South Africa have afterall, won 11 of their last 13 ODI series and come into the mega event after whitewashing Sri Lanka 5-0 at home. The only possible hurdles in their way to a tournament success is how fast they adjust to conditions and how quickly they get rid of the 'Chokers' tag.