World Cup 2011: South Africa hope to drop ‘chokers’ tag

For South Africa, World Cup is one tournament which doesn’t bring about fond memories for their players.

Despite being one of the most consistent team in World Cricket ever since they came back into international cricket in early 90s, performance in the World Cup has forced the ‘Chokers’ tag on their back.

But this time, South Africa hopes to do away with this tag and go all the way in the tournament. “Yeah, obviously we know that tag is behind us. There are a lot of new faces in the team. Hopefully, that tag won’t bother us too much. And probably we will go all the way in this World Cup,” said JP Duminy on Thursday.

“We had a bit of help from a mental-conditioning trainer. But it is not just on the ‘chokers’ tag but on overall preparations for this tournament. We haven’t concentrated too much on that tag,” he added.

The South African all-rounder believes that the team has the right mix of experience and youth, which will be key to their success, since the new faces will not have to bother about the past and can go all out to win the Cup. He pointed out, “It is a young-looking side but it is not necessarily a bad thing. We have a lot of experience. A mixture of both is good for us. We are looking forward to the challenges as a team. We know that it’s going to be hard work, but I think we can do it this time.”

Another key change that is visible in the Proteas side is the number of spinning options they have including Duminy, which could make the difference from what they did in the previous World Cups.

“It is crucial for us to have those options coming into the subcontinent. The pacers obviously are going to do the bulk of work but spinning options too are required in these conditions,” said Duminy.

On his batting form, the left-hander was quite happy with the outing he had against Australia. “I had decent time out in the middle in the previous game. So, I am not really worried,” he said. “There is more responsibility on my shoulders but that is something I am looking forward to. Hopefully, we can do well in the middle-order,” added Duminy when asked about the inexperience amongst the number six and seven batsmen.

He further felt that the good thing for the team is the fact the top order has really done well which takes away the pressure from the batsmen coming in the middle. “The guys in the top-order have done pretty well in the two warm-up games. The guys in the middle-order have to work behind the scenes and hopefully will get ready for the first game,” pointed out Duminy.

With South Africa’s first game against West Indies still a week away, the team is not trying to think much about that game and just want to follow the process, which will not only help them get off to a winning start, but also take them all the way and shred the ‘Chokers’ tag.

“We haven’t focused much on the first game. We take each day as it comes and we have a team that can do well. We will follow the process that we have put in place,” concluded Duminy.