"The cobwebs of the customary choking" - Aakash Chopra on South Africa's problem heading into 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final vs Afghanistan
Aakash Chopra has noted that South Africa's customary choking could haunt them in their 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final clash against Afghanistan. The two teams will face off in the first last-four clash in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, on Wednesday, June 26.
South Africa won all their preliminary group and Super 8 games to qualify for the semi-finals. They have never reached a World Cup final in either white-ball format and will hope to end that barren run this time.
Previewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that previous choking incidents might play on the South African players' minds.
"South Africa's problem is the cobwebs of the customary choking. They will once again find themselves there. Self-doubts are their biggest enemy. In the last ODI World Cup, they were playing very well but what happened in the end?" he said (9:40).
The former India opener cited the Proteas' 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final loss to Australia as an example to substantiate his point.
"You realized that you score 450 when you bat first and 150 when you bat second. So you felt you should bat first in the semi-final even though there was moisture on the surface. The Kolkata pitch was screaming that you should bowl first but they said they would bat first as they were unable to bat later," Chopra recalled.
However, Chopra acknowledged that Aiden Markram and company have handled the pressure better in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
"One thing that will change with this team is that it's happened for the first time that it's been raining, DLS has come into play, and South Africa have been at an advantage. They are always at the receiving end but something different has happened in this World Cup. They have won many close games," he observed.
South Africa defeated the West Indies by three wickets via the DLS method in a cliffhanger in their must-win final Super 8 game. They registered narrow wins in virtually all their previous games as well, including a one-run victory against Nepal.
"When there is uneven bounce, fast bowlers are dangerous and difficult to negotiate" - Aakash Chopra on South Africa's advantage
Aakash Chopra reckons the Tarouba pitch will favor South Africa.
"This pitch doesn't have much turn. It has uneven bounce and when there is uneven bounce, fast bowlers are dangerous and difficult to negotiate because the ball will climb at times and stay low on other occasions," he reasoned (11:10).
The cricketer-turned-commentator noted that seamers pose more problems than spinners on uneven pitches.
"Spinners don't trouble that much if there is uneven bounce. You can go on the front and play with the straight bat and you can survive, but you cannot play fast bowlers like that on a pitch where there is a lot of up-down behavior, and some balls turn out to be grubbers, and that is happening on this pitch," Chopra explained.
Chopra pointed out that the likes of Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, and Anrich Nortje can take advantage of the potential uneven bounce at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy. He picked the Proteas 55-45 favorites heading into Wednesday's game.