Former Proteas ace Vernon Philander has finally spoken out about the controversy surrounding his selection in South Africa’s fateful 2015 World Cup semifinal exit.
Philander, who had just recovered from a hamstring injury, was selected to play ahead of form seamer Kyle Abbott for the clash against New Zealand.
It was reported at the time that there was a helse drama on the eve of the match because of the selection, with then-captain AB de Villiers not happy with the team he was given.
In the end, a struggling Dale Steyn was hit for six on the second last ball of the match by Grant Elliott as the Proteas were sent packing.
Still, the selection of Philander was blamed for the loss.
After five years of silence on the issue, he tells HeartFM : “You’ve got no right or entitlement to put further hurt on an individual.
“This is what we get to when we talk about inequality and it starts by taking accountability and responsibility and saying ‘Yes we lost the World Cup. We’ll go back to the drawing board...
“Only when we reach such a stage, can we go to the World Cup and [players] feel fully deserving of their place and feel like the guy next to them has their back.”