Saturday, May 30, 2009

Why South Africa Can't Win the ICC World Twenty20

Mickey Arthur and Geoff Boycott think that South Africa are one of the favorites for the world twenty20 title, but I don't think so.

Here are my reasons why.
  1. Have they ever won a World Cup?

  2. Knowing their luck, rain, a silly run out, or a blazing West Indian bat will keep them away from the title.

  3. Only 2 of South Africa, Australia, and India can reach the semi finals; my bets are on South Africa not being 1 of the 2.

  4. Mickey Arthur has said that his players' exposure to the IPL has allowed them to gather thoughts, strategies, and preparation stuff from players of different teams.

    With 12 of South Africa's world t20 squad members appearing in 7 different IPL teams, its going to be one hell of a confusion-galore dressing room with tons of strategies that neither Arthur nor Smith will know how to comprehend.

    Fortunately, none of them played for KKR.

  5. In one of his statements Arthur named a few players who were the only ones who could not be called on to bat or bowl at any time.

    One of those players was Robin Peterson - wasn't he used as an opener or in the top order in a recent T20 game?

    How can they expect to win if Arthur doesn't know his players himself.

  6. In the recent past, Johan Botha has captained South Africa in T20s. Smith is going to have a hard time taking over.

South Africa usually start every championship as one of the favorites, and we all know where they end up.

I don't see why this time will be any different.

Make your pitch on this post...

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20 Pitched:

  1. Naked Cricket said...

    reckon this time smith will make the t20 side - really like his honest opinion on the RR exclusion.

  2. Krish said...

    It will be a strange day if South Africa wins the Cup. They will always find a way to exit the World Cup in the most imaginative way possible.

    It is the greatest Greek tragedy ever written.

  3. Stani Army said...

    South Africa are missing guile....and Botha won't be able to use his doosra.

    Boycott does talk sense sometimes but I think he's getting old now.

  4. Wasim said...

    Theonly thing they are missing is a quality spinner,they have the best pace attack in the world their batting has a lot of variety and is more reliable than the Indian or Australian line up. I think in England's seaming conditions their pace battery might cause havoc. They got a pretty good chance to win the WC.

  5. Q said...

    NC: what did Smith say about the RR exclusion? share please..

  6. Q said...

    Krish: haha, it is man..

    92 WC: Rain left them behind
    96 WC: It was a Brian Lara century
    99 WC: A silly run out

    2003 WC: All 3 happened.. Lara hit a ton again to leave them fighting for a spot in the top 6, a last man run out handed them a couple of runs defeat against NZ I think, and against SL rain and DL robbed them.

    2007 WC: Australia again..

    Sometimes u wonder whether to feel sorry or laugh..

  7. Q said...

    Stani: they seem too mechanical..

  8. Q said...

    Wasim: Their pace attack is no doubt one of the best, but it lacks variety.. while they're batting maybe better than Australia's but I don't think its better than India's..

  9. Naked Cricket said...

    Q, like it if he said something - can see some good ol' fashioned sledging "look, here's the saf skip who can't make his ipl side"

  10. Anonymous said...

    Who cares what they think..Time will tell who the real heroes are


  11. Tifosi Guy said...


    Slight correction on the S Af performance in 2003 WC.. They lost the first match to WI by a couple of runs ( it included a daft moment when in the last over, Klusener didn't run(!!) when a lofted catch was taken and thus missed the strike for a couple of balls).

    They then had the rain to blame against NZ , because the target NZ had to chase was revised by DL method and then Fleming hit a century.

    Inspite of all this, if Boucher had taken a single from the two balls left in the Murali over, in their last match, they would have gone through.

    Nope, it's not in their genes to win a WC tournament :) and I don't fancy them this year.

    If all goes well ( I haven't worked out how the tables/teams might pan out),ideally an Ind-Aus final would be good.

    Now wouldn't that be really rubbing the Brit noses in the dirt. An Ind - Aus final in a T20 tournament at Lords :)

    Would bring back memories of the 1975/1983 WC for them :) :)

  12. Q said...

    NC: im sure some people will target that.. the Aussies for sure.. "u werent good enough for Warnie were u?" .. classic stuff!

  13. Q said...

    Anonymous: who cares what who thinks?

    Welcome to the site. Will check ures out in a bit..

  14. Q said...

    TG: thanks for the correction, I knew me memory was failing me there..

    But i remembered that all 3 things that had kept them out of the race in the previous cups had come back to haunt them altogether in 03.

    Poor souls.

    Ur right, dont have it in them.

  15. cricketguru said...

    south Africa is strong team but they never go semi final.

  16. Q said...

    Thats true Cricket Guru..

    Welcome to Well Pitched

  17. Anonymous said...

    absolut bull sa will win...
    a variety in the ir attack, 4 seamers and 3 spinners, destructive batsman in Smith, Gibbs, Boucher, Roelef, Albie and 3 that can hold an innings in JP, AB and Kallis...
    They are my favourites 2 win!

  18. Q said...

    Anonymous: we shall wait and watch.

  19. Anonymous said...

    if u said SA has little chances of winning, then u're a loser! they are the best performing team by far! u idiots who think Australia is so great- where r they now? Ricky and his boys are back home!! you all seem to think aus is great just because of their history- times are changing- even if SA dont win- they've put on a damn good performance!

  20. Q said...


    Welcome to Well Pitched :-)

    All I said was that SA will not win the world twenty20. I never said they won't do well, nor did I say they won't win any matches. They always win a lot of matches in world cups, but they always fail at the last few hurdles and I see a repeat here too.

    For the record, I also said Australia will not win.

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