What is South Africa's excuse for being a regular punching bag for a cricket nation in crisis?

[Bhaijaan]

Enough putting down Team Pakistan. Couple of days ago, people were lamenting how out of date Pakistan cricket is, how lack of fitness, money, infrastructure and rampant corruption, favouritism has raised the gap between them and the rest of the world.

What is the excuse for South Africa though? They have good money, have a great professional set up, their players are fit, have abundance of natural talent and flair apparently and yet every tournament they get destroyed by even Pakistan for fun.

Apparently there is more to being a great team than money, fitness and talent.

 

[troodon]

SA are a top team and can destroy any team in bilaterals. Their problem is with winning iCC events which comes down to being mentally weak. They find a way to lose the game from winning positions.

Not a good comparison between Pak and SA.

 

[thehub]

SA is rightly called chokers. They are only good for jamodis. When whole world is watching the contest, they get nervous like teenage girls.

 

[The_Odd_One]

SA have lost only one series to England. Otherwise, they have dismantled all teams in the last couple of years.

When was the last time Pakistan won an ODI series against top 6 teams?

 

[Slog]

SA are a top team and can destroy any team in bilaterals. Their problem is with winning iCC events which comes down to being mentally weak. They find a way to lose the game from winning positions.

Not a good comparison between Pak and SA.

even in bilaterals Pakistan is the only Asian team to win a series IN South africa few years ago. and that was after disastrous CT 2013

 

[IAJ]

SA are a top team and can destroy any team in bilaterals. Their problem is with winning iCC events which comes down to being mentally weak. They find a way to lose the game from winning positions.

Not a good comparison between Pak and SA.

Yeah just like Pakistan can not beat India in ICC events.

 

[Hasan123]

SA have lost only one series to England. Otherwise, they have dismantled all teams in the last couple of years.

When was the last time Pakistan won an ODI series against top 6 teams?

In odi cricket it's all about winning icc tournaments. No one will care about South Africa beating Australia 5-0 in 10 years time. Whilst Australia winning the WC will always be remembered.

 

[thehub]

even in bilaterals Pakistan is the only Asian team to win a series IN South africa few years ago. and that was after disastrous CT 2013

They are king of bilaterals. Not sure why you are slipping in one out of 10 series that your team won there. I agree your team done better than other subcontinent teams. Overall SA win 90% of bilateral games. But they lose 90% of crunch ICC games when whole world is watching. I have seen this for the past 25 yrs.

 

[Azzurri]

Pakistan is to SA what India is to Pakistan

 

[Savak]

How things can change in Professional Sports. The Pakistani super side of the 90's lost 16 ODI's on the trott against South Africa in the 90's and 2000. Now we win against them much more frequently.

Proves that half of any sport is 50% mental and confidence. You get rid of the mental barriers, doubts and are more confident, everything else comes to the party.

 

[Mamoon]

No team can go anywhere with cowards like de Villiers masquerading as the number one batsman and captain.

 

[TahirFan]

Give credit to Pakistan.

I don't think that the Proteas choked today.

Pakistan simply bowled and fielded well

 

[thehub]

Not sure why SA fans don't want to accept the fact that they are chokers. It's not coincident anymore that other lesser teams winning the crunch match against them in ICC tournaments. I was there in the ground, I could see how nervous they all were. Both when they batted and bowled.

 

[ChachaPakistani]

Choking comprises of having victory touch your fingertips only for it to slip away in the last few moments on several occasions. South Africa didnt choke today, they were out performed in a game where they had little to no pressure whatsoever. This is coming from a very disgruntled Pakistan fan after that disastrous India match. We can give props to our team when they do well, its okay lol. (Although it was anomalous for us to get an elite batting side to 219 runs in 50 overs. I don't expect that to occur again in this tournament, so our batting is still gonna be terrible for other circumstances in ODI cricket unless we let go of poor batsmen like Hafeez.)

 

[Savak]

The South African team is not as strong as it appears to be, they are strongly dependent on individual performances from the likes of Amla, Devilliers, the others are not consistent enough.

 

[BDfanforever]

If SA loose to IND it will be game over for them.

 

[Rizie]

I think they miss the factor of team spirit. That you are proud of representing your country.

However they didnt choke today they were just outplayed.

 

[Hasan123]

No team can go anywhere with cowards like de Villiers masquerading as the number one batsman and captain.

) ).

Genuinely LOL at this.

Faf should have stayed as captain in odis after the whitewash of Australia.

 

[Pete Rose]

I think ab deviliers is not a good captain, is not really committed to CSA (understandably he is trying to monetize the final years of his career), and hence is not able to take the team forward.

 

[Haroon786]

SA have been choking in ICC events since 1999.

 

[90MPH]

Pakistan just bowled and fielded outstandingly today.

Don't think you can blame SA too much.

 

[ahmedwaqas92]

They did not choke.....Simply put they were outperformed by a better team ON THAT DAY !! By no means am I saying that PCT ? SACT however, the collective execution from the Pakistani boys were better than that of their SA counterparts..

 

[Aman]

This is a big shock, their is a huge gap between the two teams abilities.

SA has many world class players and Pakistan are a struggling side who arguably doesn't have a single world class player.

SA have QdK, Amla, AB, Tahir and Rabada, all of whom are world class in everyone's' book.

 

[MRSN]

Give credit to Pakistan.

I don't think that the Proteas choked today.

Pakistan simply bowled and fielded well

Ab choked. That wad literally a nothing delivery. Faf would have done better on a normal day as well. It was definitely a choke.

 

[geraltofrivia]

SA suck in ICC tourneys.

 

[MRSN]

You could clearly see how Pakistan was messing up chasing such a low total if it wasn't for rain things could have been interesting. If SA had manage a total of 250 this Pak batting would never come close to it. Rain saved us. We should be thankful to God.

 

[Smbhayi]

They outperformed us

 

[Bilal7]

No team can go anywhere with cowards like de Villiers masquerading as the number one batsman and captain.

No need to be unfair. AB is a legend and the best batsman in the world, let alone his own team.

SA are a top team and can destroy any team in bilaterals. Their problem is with winning iCC events which comes down to being mentally weak. They find a way to lose the game from winning positions.

Not a good comparison between Pak and SA.

That was not a choke. That was Pakistan doing what Pakistan is famous for. A top-class bowling display and some jazba and junoon. Replace South Africa with any team, including India, and Pakistan would have won yesterday.

 

[Bilal7]

This is a big shock, their is a huge gap between the two teams abilities.

SA has many world class players and Pakistan are a struggling side who arguably doesn't have a single world class player.

SA have QdK, Amla, AB, Tahir and Rabada, all of whom are world class in everyone's' book.

Amir and Babar are definitely world-class.

 

[geraltofrivia]

No need to be unfair. AB is a legend and the best batsman in the world, let alone his own team.



That was not a choke. That was Pakistan doing what Pakistan is famous for. A top-class bowling display and some jazba and junoon. Replace South Africa with any team, including India, and Pakistan would have won yesterday.

No. As the middle overs spin choke would not take place. Happened last match. Happened in 2015. India stack too strongly against Pakistan.

 

[Gayle_Force]

It's a mental block, quite similar to what Pakistan has when facing India in ICC tournaments. However, I wouldn't call yesterday's loss a choke. Pak's bowling was outstanding but SA did post a fighting total and defended it quite well. Also, they are still very much in the tournament and are very much capable of defeating India.

 

[SL_Fan]

They just don't seem to think straight and tend to crack under pressure when it comes to ICC tourneys. Fair to say tho that they have been a bit unlucky as well on a few occasions especially when it comes to the weather. Yesterday however was another full on choke. After hammering our lot who are pretty much minnows they went in knowing that a win against Pakistan would get them into the semis. Instead of being ruthless like they are in bilaterals all logic went out the window. First of all knowing rain was going to play a big role why the heck would you bat first? Not just that AB as usual was all over the place as cap'n not exactly sure why he's got the job back tbh right up there with Mathews when it comes to being clueless and lacking match awareness. I mean for instance Morkel, Tahir and Morris were bowling very well and looking dangerous. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that with rain expected to halt play SA's best chance was to bowl their best bowlers up front to try and get ahead of D/L. But nope AB instead kept on going back to Parnell and Rabada lol. The guy's stocks truly are plummeting sad to say. Unreal bat skill-wise but can't seem to handle pressure one bit. Same goes for Amla and QdK too looks to be in the same boat.

 

[Third Man]

Amir and Babar are definitely world-class.

I would add Hasan Ali to that.

 

[bujhee kom]

No. As the middle overs spin choke would not take place. Happened last match. Happened in 2015. India stack too strongly against Pakistan.

India or Bangladesh would not fall for a 'spin choke' strategy. Can you imagine Imad to Sarkar?

 

[Aman]

Amir and Babar are definitely world-class.

Babar is on the fringe, Amir not on that level yet.

 

[Aman]

Before Bilal argues it...

 

[Bhaijaan]

Question was simple. If Pakistan loses, they are supposed to be a team in crisis a nation in crisis. But what have these Africans achieved with everything they have that is so much in common with other first world countries. You can't blame Nawaz Shareef for African losses.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

They just had a bad day at the office and came up against an on-fire Pakistan. They also aimed for 300+ and got bowled out cheaply. Had their top order played more like Miller they would have got to 240-270 which was a good score.

 

[Bhaijaan]

They just had a bad day at the office and came up against an on-fire Pakistan. They also aimed for 300+ and got bowled out cheaply. Had their top order played more like Miller they would have got to 240-270 which was a good score.

They have been having these bad days every tournament.

 

[big_gamer007]

How things can change in Professional Sports. The Pakistani super side of the 90's lost 16 ODI's on the trott against South Africa in the 90's and 2000. Now we win against them much more frequently.

Proves that half of any sport is 50% mental and confidence. You get rid of the mental barriers, doubts and are more confident, everything else comes to the party.

That super side lost to one of the strongest ODI teams in SA.. Its not that there was much difference between those two line ups in fact I would say SA had a slightly better team on paper..

Today's team of SA on paper is much more stronger than Pakistani ODI team and yet lose much more which shows Pakistan ups their game against SA..

 

[bujhee kom]

Before Bilal argues it...

Damn. Mediocre. No match for Rabada or Fizz.

 

[Bhaijaan]

What an embarrassment. This team is a joke.

 

[WC-Passion]

Love seeing SA choke as some PPers think that they were favourites for the tournament despite being the most mentally weak team in the tournament. )