South Africa is a proud sporting nation who love their cricket and play it with tremendous passion.
However, they have had a miserable run at the 2019 ICC World Cup and a loss on Sunday night to Pakistan all but eliminated their chances of making it to the semi-finals.
South Africa have played 7 games so far and lost 5 of them, leaving them in 9th place on the points table ahead of just Afghanistan. This is a massive insult to South African cricket and the fans back home are disgusted with the way the Proteas have let down their country.
What will hurt South Africa is that they never played competitive cricket and have surrendered very tamely.
ESPNcricinfo
This South African team did not perform to their potential and one of the main reasons for this was due to the fact that their senior players let the team down. Hashim Amla has been a stalwart for South African cricket over the years but he has had a poor run in the last 18 months. The selectors backed him for the World Cup and he failed at the top of the order.
David Miller was expected to bring stability to the middle order and control the end of the innings. He got starts but never really went on to make a big score and control the game like he should have. JP Duminy did not make the most of the little opportunity he had at the start of the World Cup and the selectors decided to drop him in favour of Aiden Markram who also failed at number 3.
South Africa have two more games to play before they pack their bags and head home. The Proteas will want to play for pride and see if they can finish their World Cup campaign on a winning note. Captain Faf du Plessis admits to being embarrassed at the way his side has played and knows that it could very well be the end of the road for his as captain.
JP Duminy and Imran Tahir have already announced their retirement from ODI cricket after the end of the World Cup. The South African selectors will most likely give H Amla a tap on his shoulder and ask him to end his ODI career along with Dale Steyn who missed the World Cup due to injury.
South Africa will have to look at rebuilding a new side with young blood and most likely a new captain at the helm!
About The Author
