3 Reasons why South Africa are the dark horses for the World Cup
It is not often that one can say with a lot of conviction that a team like South Africa doesn’t start the World Cup as favorites. History has been a witness to the fact that South Africa has always geared up for the tournament as one of the strongest teams. The story, however, seems a bit different this time around. With this World Cup campaign starting on 30th May, with not many giving them a chance.
Currently, there is a lot of uncertainty in their camp regarding the form and fitness of players that will take the field in the World Cup opener against hosts England. The Proteas have a history of failing to capitalize on the key moments and handle the pressure.
Going into this edition, they are often labeled as dark horses and this can certainly help them to win the World Cup with opposition teams unsure of what lies in front of them. Here are the three reasons why South Africa enters the World Cup with that tag.
#3 Combination of experience and youth
Out of the 15 players selected to represent the Proteas, seven players have played in previous World Cups whereas eight will be playing the tournament for the first time. The selectors have therefore chosen to pick a squad that has the perfect blend of experience and youth in all the departments. This provides an adequate balance to the squad; which if full of match-winners
Seasoned campaigners like Hashim Amla, Quinton De Kock, Dale Steyn, JP Duminy, David Miller, and Imran Tahir have truckloads of experience and other players will hugely benefit playing alongside them. South Africa has an experienced captain in Faf Du Plessis, who has shown with his astute captaincy skills not to underestimate the Proteas.
However, there have been some concerns over the form of the seasoned players and it will be interesting to see whether they can put their best performance on the field. One can never write them off as, in crunch situations, it is with their experience that they can bail the team out of difficult situations. The team will be banking on these players to deliver the goods on the field and hope that South Africa goes all the way to lift the trophy.