Ahead of their Cricket World Cup match towards India at the weekend, the SA staff had been calm and assured. Maybe just a little too calm and just a little too assured.
Preparing to face the hosts at a packed Eden Gardens, the magnitude of the sport was evident for anybody who follows the sport.
Granted, each groups had already certified for the semi-finals, however beneficial log positions had been nonetheless up for grabs. In addition, the match supplied a possibility for one in every of the high two groups in the match to achieve one other confidence increase going into subsequent week’s playoffs.
Despite all of this, nonetheless, the Proteas gamers appeared utterly unfazed. Asked in the event that they had been feeling extra pressure earlier than the match, senior members of the squad nearly brushed it off.
We heard bland, cliched feedback like “it’s just another game” and “we will follow our usual processes”. It was nearly like that they had no thought how huge of an event they had been dealing with.
India, on the different hand, had been clearly up for it, attacking from the begin with bat and all. It was a whole demolition.
No pressure
After the match, head coach Rob Walter admitted the Proteas hadn’t appeared to be feeling any more pressure than that they had skilled forward of the remainder of their first-round matches.
Perhaps that’s the downside. They actually should have felt the pressure, and it should have had them on their toes, guaranteeing they approached the match with adequate depth.
Looking forward, they can’t afford any complacency in the World Cup playoffs. If they don’t hit it exhausting from the begin of their semi-final (and doubtlessly the ultimate) they’re prone to be thumped once more, and feeling inner pressure goes to be essential to make sure they don’t take their foot off the pedal.
Pressure can be debilitating, however complacency can be even worse. Hopefully the SA staff be taught from their failure at the weekend, and hopefully their hearts are pumping after they step on the subject for his or her remaining fixtures.
If they lose in the semi-finals, it’s not the finish of the world, but when they get crushed with out placing up a struggle, they’ll have quite a lot of explaining to do. And bland, cliched responses about “following processes” gained’t be adequate.
