Two defeats, Dale Steyn ruled out of the tournament and Lungi Ngidi set to miss 10 days of action, while Hashim Amla is still recovering from a knock to the head.
That’s the brutal truth that faces the Proteas ahead of their World Cup match against India at the Rose Bowl at 11.30am on Wednesday.
But coach Ottis Gibson says his team should stop sulking after defeats to England and Bangladesh got their tournament off to the worst possible start.
He says: “I’ve told them [the team] in the dressing room [after the defeat to Bangladesh on Sunday] that there is no place to hide at a World Cup, so there is no point in sulking around.”
The Proteas have to up their game in every single department if they want to beat India - starting with the coin toss.
Despite backing their bowlers to defend any target set by their batsmen before the start of the tournament, captain Faf du Plessis has opted to bat first in both defeats, completely going against the plan they laid out before leaving South Africa.
You can bet that there will be a change in approach when Du Plessis and India captain Virat Kohli lines up for the coin flip on Wednesday.
UNDER PRESSURE: Skipper Faf du Plessis. Photo: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters.
Of the toss, Gibson says: “Faf is trying to take responsibility for the decision with the toss, but if you bowl the way we bowled [against Bangladesh] and conceded 54 runs in the last four overs, then you’re not going to win many games.”
For a coach that relies heavily on his bowling attack to win him games, Gibson has every right to be disappointed with his bowlers to date.
South Africa have failed to bowl out their opponents on both occasions and lacked the necessary X-factor to trouble batsmen as well.
With India’s Kohli ranked first in the world and Rohit Sharma a close second, this match will be won or lost during the India innings.
Of what they need to improve on, Gibson adds: “We have to get up and think about where we’re going wrong; put better spells of bowling together and better partnerships together...
“Look at Anthony Joshua [who lost his heavyweight boxing titles in an upset to Andy Ruiz on Saturday night].
“He was the favourite and he got put on the floor, and I’m sure he’s going to get up and go on in his next fight and he’ll probably win.
“We must look at that sort of situation and get ourselves up off the floor, dust ourselves off and go and put our best game out on the field.”