Rob Walter confident Proteas will ‘shine through’ at Champions Trophy

Despite falling in a 3-0 defeat to Pakistan in their ODI series which concluded on Sunday, Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter remains confident his squad can put up a fight for the title at next year’s Champions Trophy tournament.

Missing some key bowlers due to injury, and having to rest players ahead of a crunch two-match Test series against Pakistan, the SA team were not quite at full strength in last week’s ODI campaign.

Pakistan were in a similar boat, however, and Walter admitted they were outplayed in key moments.

He nonetheless believed his team could stand up at the Champions Trophy starting in Pakistan in February, after reaching the semifinals of last year’s 50-over World Cup in India and the final at this year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

“At the end of the day we’ve just got to trust in the quality of the players. I know they’ll shine through,” Walter said.

“When it comes to marquee world events the guys tend to step up and bring their best cricket. We’ve seen that at two World Cups in a row.”

Looking ahead

For now, Walter said the focus would need to switch immediately to the Test series against Pakistan starting in Centurion on Thursday.

Needing to win just one of the two Tests to qualify for next year’s World Test Championship final, the Proteas five-day squad (coached by Shukri Conrad) had been the main focus throughout their home tour.

The nation’s top players would then turn out in the SA20 league starting next month, and with just two ODI matches ahead of the Champions Trophy to prepare for the tournament, Walter was pleased the Proteas would have a chance to gear up in the top-flight domestic series, albeit in a different format.

“At this year’s T20 World Cup we were all together just two days before the first game, and I think the guys have an understanding of it,” Walter said.

“The switching in codes will potentially pose a bit of a challenge to us, but it’s not like the guys haven’t played 50-over cricket, so I trust that when the time comes (for the Champions Trophy) they will be there.”