Johannesburg - Despite their recent struggles in the longer formats of the game, the Proteas will be going to the World T20 in India next month intent on lifting the trophy, according to captain Faf du Plessis.
The Proteas are currently low on confidence after losing the four-match Test series to England last month, and going 2-0 down after the first two games of the current One Day International (ODI) series before a morale-boosting win in Centurion on Tuesday to keep the series alive with two matches to play.
But, with one eye already on the ICC event in March, Du Plessis was bullish about his side's chances.
“Our goal is to win it. It's as simple as that. We've played extremely good cricket the last two World Cups,” said Du Plessis at the Proteas World T20 squad announcement on Wednesday.
“The last T20 World Cup we played a great game against India in the semi but they were just better than us. They batted extremely well and went on to win.” Du Plessis also made reference to the ODI World Cup where they suffered a heartbreaking loss to co-hosts New Zealand at the semi-final stage last year.
“Losing against New Zealand, I think we played the better cricket. For me its about performing when the pressure is high. That's what it's going to take to win a World Cup. The last two World Cups, we've done that. We performed when the pressure is high.
“The majority of the squad is from those World Cups and they would have learnt how to handle the pressure moments. This is the strongest squad we have taken to a World Cup. Our backup is going to be just as strong so we don't rely on one or two players. For me its very important that the senior players step up. You don't want to rely too much on your younger players. You want them to feel free and play with the pressure off their shoulders.”
There were a few notable exclusions from the Proteas squad with both Morkel brothers Morne and Albie missing out. Batting allrounder Albie, in particular, could have provided extra firepower down the order in a finishing role, but management chose to go with bowling allrounder David Wiese.
“That's the nature of having a quality cricketing country. You are going to have guys who are missing out and feel very unlucky. This team for me... if you look at Albie he has done really well but David Wiese has played 90% of the games. Albie only played that one game.
“David has been bowling exceptionally well and the role at No 7, he bowls a lot more than he bats and David is a lot more versatile as a bowler. He can bowl at the death, he can bowl in the middle and he has done really well for his IPL team. He hits the ball just as far, but Albie can count himself very unlucky. The No 7 role is more a bowling allrounder position at the moment for us.”
With Wiese and Morris providing similar roles, Du Plessis said it would help the balance of the team.
“There's place for both Wiese and Morris. I am a fan of having a long and strong batting line-up. It comes from my time playing at Chennai. It's about making your batting line-up as strong as possible and having four bowlers who can do a job. In the first seven [overs] you'll have your best bowlers, and you will have one or two guys who can bowl the rest of the overs. We will have Wiese, [JP] Duminy or Fudgie [Farhaan Behardien].” - African News Agency (ANA)