Being underdogs can help South Africa in World Cup, Boucher says

Former South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher feels the underdog tag might be a blessing in disguise for the Proteas going into the 2019 World Cup in England.

“See, people look at the team during every World Cup and on paper we are a good team,” said Boucher, who is in the capital as coach of the Pretoria-based Multiply Titans — taking part in the Abu Dhabi T20 tournament starting today. “I think we are probably going into this World Cup not such a good team on paper, which could be a good thing for South Africa.

“I think we are nowhere near the best team. It is a good space to go in out there and surprise a few. If you get into the semi-final or final then anything can happen. One good innings can win the day for you, so consistently we have to be at our best to get to a semi-final stage; then who knows.”

Boucher, who holds the record for the most Test dismissals by a wicketkeeper — 532 catches but who had to cut short his career after a serious eye injury against Somerset in 2012, was of the view that the choker tag has been unfairly used for the South Africa team.

“The choking word comes out all the time and I feel that’s unfair because to win a World Cup you also need a lot of luck to go your way,” he said. “There are a lot of good teams playing in the world at the moment.”

Boucher also felt that the current team lacks depth in the batting, with a void created by the retirement of AB de Villiers.

“Our bowling is good and we have good bowlers coming through. We have got good results as well,” said Boucher.

“I think the batting is a bit of a worry and if you lose AB then you are losing a big player in the team. Who is going to step into his position that we don’t know yet. There are a lot of players being used at the moment to try and test them.”

Boucher also feels that South African skipper Faf du Plessis should take De Villiers’ No. 4 position in the batting order to add more stability.

Morkel, whose team will be taking on Afghanistan’s Boost Defenders tomorrow, went on to add that the tournament gives an opportunity to showcase Abu Dhabi as a “fantastic cricket destination”.

“Only Pakistan played their home games here before but now there are different leagues being held here in UAE,” he said. “Abu Dhabi has got everything it needs to host a tournament and I think there will be a lot more cricket being played here.”

‘New team, new cultures’

was a nice opportunity to bond with a “new team and new cultures”.

“This is the first of its kind at the moment,” he said. “It’s very exciting and a good opportunity with a number of international guys who want to prove themselves and exciting times for some of the Afghan guys to play against different teams and add a new tournament,” said Ingram.

Auckland skipper Craig Cachopa revealed they don’t have big names but are keen to make the most.

“Black Caps are away and the New Zealand A team are away. We have got the rest of our guys and this is a nice opportunity for them to play good quality overseas opposition with players like Colin Ingram and Albie Morkel,” said Cachopa, whose team will be playing Boost Defenders in the opener.

Hobart skipper Charles Wakim felt that the tournament was extremely important to gauge where they needed to improve.