A consistent name among the top favorites in both format namely men’s ODI and T20 International World Cups since the latter part of the ’90s, South Africa have never really been able to successfully sail beyond the semi-finals of any of the cricketing events. Now, this is a record that they are resolute about correcting this year when starting their campaign for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against Australia.
The 2021 ICC T20 World Cup has been of supreme importance to the entire Proteas team as well as South Africa as a nation, their captain Temba Bavuma, has said. It is not only that the T20 cricket tournament has been a prime part of Cricket South Africa’s policy to present their new fans to this game of cricket. But this format is also going to be the first out of three chances for them to grab their first-ever trophy of the ICC World Cup.
“We’ve had a good run in the last year, we’ve done really well. It was a slow start when Mark Boucher came in but we knew it was going to be because we had to come up with a blueprint and a plan for how we want to go about things,” Quinton de Kock said on Betway Insider.
South Africa has recently declared their 15-member team for the Men’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 tournament which is set to be held in Australia. However, there is a highly striking absence from their squad, that of mainstay Rassie van der Dussen, due to an injury on his finger that needs surgery. Temba Bavuma will again assume the captaincy role for the second consecutive T20 World Cup tournament. But while it is going to be tough for South Africa to substitute their star player Rassie van der Dussen, they believe there are enough weapons to compensate for his absence.
But overall, the Proteas have not too much altered the team from last year’s T20 World Cup, apart from van der Dussen’s absence.
This time they have included Rilee Rossouw after more than six years. Rossouw has had a trailblazing performance in T20 so far securing his credentials in this format. In 261 games, this 32-year-old player has whipped 6633 runs with an average of 30.99 runs and a 142.40 strike rate. He has been a globetrotter, playing in almost all the leagues around the world which accounts for his rich experience that is expected to make a huge difference to South Africa’s batting line-up. On his return to international cricket, he thrashed 96 runs (not out) off 55 balls against team England. The T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia would be the ideal stage for Rossouw to come across as the game-changer for team South Africa.
Another very interesting thing about South Africa’s team selection is the inclusion of Wayne Parnell and Dwaine Pretorius. Like Rossouw, Parnell also made his comeback recently to team South Africa after almost five years. On the other hand, Pretorius has been one of the most coveted T20 star players recently, in franchise tournaments held across the world.
These are the three main changes to South Africa’s team since the last World Cup. The Proteas have ticked off almost all the boxes and are gearing up to bag their first T20 World Cup trophy.