Temba Bavuma also opened up about Quinton de Kock's retirement decision.
South African captain Temba Bavuma has openly admitted that the label of World Cup "chokers" will continue to haunt his team until they clinch the prestigious trophy.
His comments came ahead of South Africa’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 opening match against Sri Lanka on October 7 in Delhi. Over the years, South Africa has dealt with challenges, including adverse weather conditions and occasional lapses in composure, especially in high-pressure moments when victory was within reach.
Due to this, South Africa has managed to reach the semi-finals in four out of their eight World Cup appearances, while the elusive final berth has remained just out of their grasp.
Temba Bavuma said at the pre-match press conference: “As a South African team, we know we're going to have that chokers tag on our block, or that narrative that we have to get over. That's always going to be there until we win a trophy. I think there are guys who believe that it applies to this team, there are guys who don't believe that it applies to this team.”
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The Proteas captain continued, “I think the belief amongst the team, that's the most important bit I bring up to just make sure that we're not kind of skirting around the issue. It's that acceptance that it would always be there within the team, within this group, within guys who are to come. Hopefully they don't have to experience that.”
Meanwhile, the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023 will be the last ODI assignment for Quinton de Kock, as he wants to focus on lucrative T20 franchise cricket in the rest of his career.
Reacting to De Kock’s decision, Bavuma said: “It's becoming tougher and tougher for guys to overlook the opportunity of the lucrativeness of playing in franchise T20 leagues.”
He signed off by saying, “But for me, it's when you're within the team and you have that opportunity to wear that patch, that you do it with honour, you do it with pride, and you don't take anything for granted.”
(With AFP Inputs)