There is good news and bad news for South African cricket fans.
The good news is that the national team has not yet choked at this year’s World Cup.
The bad news is that they are already two down after two matches following defeats to England and Bangladesh.
In order to “choke”, you must be in the game.
It has to be a scenario where the scores are tight and the result can go either way.
In the case of the Proteas, they were never really in any of the two matches against the hosts and the Tigers, therefore they didn’t choke.
I believe what we are witnessing now is the result of how South Africa entered the tournament mentally.
BAD ATTITUDE: Proteas captain Faf du Plessis is too relaxed. Photo: Paul Childs/Reuters.
In the build-up to the campaign, both coach Ottis Gibson and captain Faf du Plessis stressed that they were not going to talk about the chokers tag.
They were simply going to ignore the white elephant in the room because most of the players in the squad didn’t experience the choking of the past.
What’s more is that they had this attitude that “it’s just cricket” and that losing the first match of the tournament to England or not winning the World Cup is not the end of their lives.
Yes, it isn’t. But what I got from this is that the team is simply ignoring the past.
And that can be dangerous as evident in these results.
Instead of facing the demon that is choking them and dealing with it, they have decided to take a relaxed approach that has boiled over onto the field.
This Proteas team lacks fire in all departments at the moment.
MENTAL MISHAP: Proteas coach Ottis Gibson has work to do. Photo: Paul Childs/Reuters.
And while they have the technical skill to still bounce back in the tournament, they are lacking tactically and mentally.
If they don’t want to talk about this choking thing, I am pretty sure their opponents will remind them of it.
They must remember that they are representing the Proteas “body” and that body has a long history of mental failure in this tournament.
As they gear up to face India in what has quickly become a must-win game, you can only hope they have the balls to confront their inner demons and in doing so “get up” for the game instead of just going through the motions and playing with a carefree attitude that is more welcome in a local Sunday cricket league.
Just ask Allan Donald and Lance Klusener if the World Cup is just cricket.
Anyway, I’m still waiting for the big choke to come…