World Cup 2019: Biggest game-changer for South Africa.
The 12th cricket World Cup will get underway in less than 100 days from now in England, on the 23rd of May. It is going to be an interesting tournament which will go on for 45 days, where every team will go head-on against every other team. This is an approach which does away with the pool system we are used to seeing in ICC events.
Every team must have already prepared their line-up after working on it for more than 3 years now. All of these strategies will be put to test in this tournament.
In every team, there is a player who has a ability to shine over the others and excel in the team, emerging as a game-changer, turning around matches for the team. Here is a look at such player(s) from the South African team:
South Africa is the most unlucky country of the ICC events. Even after some of the finest players in the side, South Africa have still not won a World Cup. They have always been strong contenders for winning a trophy, but this year, it will be very difficult, as their key player Ab De Villiers has surprisingly retired from International cricket. Now, it is going to be a bit tougher for the South African team in this World Cup.
However, South Africa is still a brilliant side. With players like Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada, South Africa will almost surely make it to the knock-outs.
The biggest game-changers for South Africa will be Kagiso Rabada and David Miller. Rabada has become the head of the bowling unit in a short time and he has been consistently taking wickets and making an impact. He is at No.7 in the ICC bowler's rankings in ODIs and he will be raring to make an impact in the biggest tournament and raise that ranking to enter the Top 5.
David Miller on the other hand is a hard-hitting batsman and though he has been somewhat inconsistent, has shown glimpses of what he can do when he is in good touch. He has a strike rate of over 100 in one-day internationals. If he finds his touch in South Africa, it will make the middle order of South Africa very threatening.
The other players like Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla have been there in this setup, and know how to play here. However, their role will be to build a game around these young players who will have a major role to play in South Africa's World Cup campaign.