Former South African wicket-keeper batsman Mark Boucher believes that the term “underdogs” can help the Proteas to make their chances in the upcoming 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England.

While South Africa is yet to make it to the World Cup final despite having been qualified for the semi-final stage on four occasions, Boucher, who played in three Cricket World Cups, feels it is unfair to label the national side as ‘chokers’.

Boucher told Gulf News on October 4, “See, people look at the team during every World Cup and on paper, we are a good team. I think we are probably going into this World Cup not such a good team on paper, which could be a good thing for South Africa.”

He further added, “I think we are nowhere near the best team. It is a good space to go in out there and surprise a few. If you get into the semi-final or final then anything can happen. One good innings can win the day for you, so consistently we have to be at our best to get to a semi-final stage; then who knows. The choking word comes out all the time and I feel that’s unfair because to win a World Cup you also need a lot of luck to go your way. There are a lot of good teams playing in the world at the moment.”

Meanwhile, Boucher admitted that the Proteas has a good bowling unit for the mega ICC event, but AB de Villiers’ retirement is a massive blow to South Africa’s hopes at the World Cup 2019.

He signed off by saying, “Look, our bowling is good and we have good bowlers coming through. We have got good results as well. I think the batting is a bit of a worry and if you lose AB then you are losing a big player in the team. Who is going to step into his position that we don’t know yet? There are a lot of players being used at the moment to try and test them. Yes, we have a couple of guys who have been in there, but until now, none of them have been able to put their hands up and say ‘that’s my position’.”

(Inputs: Gulf News)