‘Every team has a shot’ at World Cup title, says Proteas captain Bavuma

He admits hosts India and defending champions England will be difficult to beat, but Proteas captain Temba Bavuma insists the national team will be wary of all teams competing at the Cricket World Cup.

All sides in the tournament will face each of the other nine teams in a round robin format in the first round, competing for only four available spots in the playoffs.

And while the Proteas will be on their toes against some of the traditionally stronger sides, Bavuma said ahead of their departure at the weekend that they were aiming for consistency in an attempt to book their place in the knockout stages.

In order to ensure they progressed safely beyond the round robin phase, they needed to play their best cricket every time they stepped on the park.

“India, as the host country, are playing in their own conditions and they’ll know what to expect, so you obviously can’t look past them. And England obviously are the reigning champions,” Bavuma said.

“But all the teams, if they play well, can really have a shot at the World Cup.”

Learning from defeat

At last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, the SA team crashed out in the first round after a shock defeat to the Netherlands.

Bavuma admitted that loss had been weighing on their minds, and they were desperate not to allow any complacency to creep in against the lower-ranked sides at next month’s 50-over showpiece.

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“Those conversations have been happening (within the Proteas squad) since last year’s T20 World Cup,” the skipper said.

“We’ve been challenging ourselves and each other to make sure that awareness is there and we’re not taking things for granted.

“But we’ve also needed to find actual, practical ways as to what we need to do to keep that awareness up and ensure that our eye is on the ball and we try stay in the present moment as much as we can.”

South Africa, targeting their maiden Cricket World Cup title, will face Sri Lanka in their opening match of the tournament in Delhi on 7 October. The final will be played in Ahmedabad on 19 November.