Even as outsiders worry over the future of South African cricket, plagued by a massive talent exodus in recent years, fast bowler Andile Phehlukwayo believes Proteas aren't that far away from breaking their longstanding World Cup jinx in the future.
South Africa had a woeful campaign at the 50-over World Cup last summer in the UK, winning just three of its nine league games and crashing out of the tournament.
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Since then, the make-up of the side has changed a lot with the retirements of Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, and Quinton de Kock taking over as captain. De Kock starting off his tenure at the helm with impressive results against England, Australia last season.
The stand-out feature of the 1-1 draw versus the world champions and 3-0 whitewash over the arch-rivals from down under was how the team's youngsters performed.
Phehlukwayo thinks De Kock's men have started building a nice foundation towards winning a multination event at some stage.
"I really believe it will happen. Maybe it didn't look like it at the 2019 World Cup, where we really didn't look after situations that on normal occasions we would take care of, but if you look at the current generation, it's a lot of new players who are really hungry to perform," he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"Even in our current rebuilding phase, we have managed to beat strong teams who already have their formula set. It's all about the mindset. Our brand is work in progress but we all know where we want to be. We are fully committed."
The 24-year-old Phehlukwayo himself has a crucial role to play in the white-ball set-up.
"I believe I'm a genuine all-rounder because I can win games with bat or ball, but I understand that those arguments about the kind of player someone is would look at the stats," said the man, who has been more impactful with the ball than with the willow in recent times, scoring just 563 ODI and 92 T20I runs, but taking 69 and 35 wickets in the two formats respectively.
"I don't think they consider whether the team needs you to bat or bowl more. Also, the circumstances and environment on the day will dictate whether you will be better at one discipline in the situation."
"And then it's also about the opportunity and how long you're able to bat or bowl on the day. Sometimes you're only at the crease for a very short period, for example, and it's about the impact you can make in that time," he concluded.
(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)
