Hurt to see such unrecognisable SA performance

I’ve grown so used to the free flowing starts to our batting, Sunday was timid and that led to a position where you could see panic creep in.

On South Africa’s capitulation Mindset and your approach to the game are those one percent factors that make the difference at this level. When those factors are not there, you pay the price.

On fragile temperament

LONDON:I left the ground on Sunday feeling as many South African fans would be feeling.

Disappointment that the team hadn’t managed to recreate the form and brand of cricket that has seen it be so successful in white ball cricket over the past 12-18 months. I still care deeply about the environment that I spent so much time building as a player, and it hurt to see such an unrecognisable South Africa performance.

The side has been missing that spark or that intensity to the play that characterises South African cricket. It’s easy at times, such as these, to point to a variety of reasons as to why the performances haven’t come at yet another major tournament, but for me it’s a relatively simple equation.

The positivity to our play and the energy that we’ve come to expect from this group of players just hasn’t been there.

Sunday’s display is the perfect example of that. With the bat, there was a real chance to make an impression on the game early, by looking to, at least, try and put the India seamers under pressure. That didn’t happen, and this style of play that seems to lack the intent that we’ve seen from the same players previously, is what puzzles me the most.

What I would have liked to see from the guys at the top of the order is, at least, an attempt to put Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar under pressure. Anything to put them off their game and bring their plans into question.

Our approach was far more conservative, and if you’re going to play that way, you can’t afford the calamities that unfolded in terms of the two mid-innings run outs. They will kill any momentum you have, and suck the energy from a dressing room.

Those key moments in the game where you look for someone to take the initiative just seemed to pass South Africa by. India played the game with more intensity, took more risks and stuck to their method and game formula far better than the South African team.

Whereas I’ve grown so used to the free flowing, often powerful starts to our batting, Sunday was slightly timid and that led to a position where you could almost see panic creep in to our play. Panic related to getting ‘a score’, and panic about how we were going to get to 300-plus which seems to be par in this tournament so far.

Mindset and your approach to the game are those one percent factors that make the difference at this level. When those factors are not there, you pay the price and it’s the team’s approach that has been the missing ingredient.

I still believe this to be a wonderful short-form side, with very few – if any – weaknesses. It just hasn’t happened on the field, especially with the bat, and I know that these players will be hurting as they prepare to leave the tournament having again failed to dispel the same questions that are levelled at South African sides.