South Africa is set to arrive in India on Tuesday, September 26, where they will engage in a couple of warm-up matches against Afghanistan and New Zealand before their inaugural World Cup match on October 7 against Sri Lanka at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. However, the Proteas have faced setbacks as Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala have been ruled out of the tournament, posing additional challenges for the team’s World Cup campaign.

Quinton de Kock, who captained the Super Giants in the inaugural edition, couldn’t lead the team to a satisfactory performance, resulting in a fifth-place finish on the points table and missing out on the playoffs.

The Durban franchise took to social media to officially reveal Keshav Maharaj as the player entrusted with the leadership responsibilities for the forthcoming season.

Keshav Maharaj’s T20I career for South Africa spans 25 matches, where he has contributed 69 runs and claimed 22 wickets. His bowling performances have been commendable with an average of 27.5 and an economy rate of 7.22.

However, his performance in the previous SA20 tournament fell short of expectations, as he managed only 34 runs and four wickets in 10 matches.

The decision to appoint Maharaj as captain could be attributed to Quinton de Kock’s need for more freedom to focus on his batting, as leadership does not come naturally to him.

On the other hand, Maharaj has displayed his leadership skills in the limited opportunities he has had while captaining the South Africa team.

Quinton de Kock had a remarkable performance in the 2023 SA20, emerging as the fifth leading run-scorer. He amassed 271 runs in 10 matches at an average of 30.11 and an impressive strike rate of 151.39.

Additionally, Heinrich Klaasen played a pivotal role in the Durban Super Giants’ SA20 campaign, accumulating 363 runs in 10 matches with a strike rate of approximately 165. He finished the tournament as the fourth-highest run-getter.

This issue led to notable players like Ben Stokes, the star of the 2019 World Cup, making the decision to step away from the 50-over format, citing the hectic playing schedule and his desire to prioritize Test cricket. While the downsides of a congested international calendar are evident, there are also positive aspects that South Africa can leverage heading into the World Cup scheduled for October.
In a span of two years, Temba Bavuma has transitioned from having no World Cup experience to captaining the South African team in two T20 World Cups. This implies that the Proteas will have an experienced captain for this year’s ODI World Cup, a scenario that wouldn’t have been possible with a different schedule.

“They have all tasted the World Cup atmosphere through their participation in the T20 World Cup, so they know what to expect,” stated Peterson, who himself competed in the 2011 World Cup held in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

“While the formats may differ, the overall experience is similar. The intensity, media attention, and presence of top teams and players—these elements remain consistent. Every player in this group has gained a taste of it. Sufficient World Cup experience exists.” It is worth noting that both World Cups in which Bavuma was involved turned out to be disappointing episodes in South African cricket history. They were marked by incidents such as the “taking the knee” controversy centered around Quinton de Kock and the team’s elimination from the competition despite losing just one match, followed by an embarrassing defeat against the Netherlands.

Nevertheless, valuable experience has been gained within a short timeframe. Peterson suggests that the best approach now is to approach the World Cup with optimism, leaving the past behind. “The past is behind us, and we always approach the next tournament with optimism,” emphasized Peterson in an interview with IOL Sport.

“In the 2011 World Cup, we displayed strong cricket throughout the tournament, except for the quarter-final loss, which can happen in any series. Similarly, in the 2015 World Cup, the team consistently performed well, reaching the semi-finals. “I understand that it was heartbreaking for the fans, but if we analyze it closely, we can see that we played good cricket in two World Cups.
“In 2019, I’m not entirely sure if we were at our best. As a group, many players were in the latter stages of their careers, and their prime performances were behind them.
“Overall, if we consider our performances in World Cups, we have generally played well; we just haven’t managed to clinch the trophy.”

Having elected to bat, Zimbabwe lost openers Craig Ervine (2) and Regis Chakabva (8) in the powerplay and were left reeling at 12-3 before the end of the third over after the in-form Sikandar Raza fell for a duck to Lungi Ngidi. Sean Williams was run out (1) in the next over before the 53-run partnership between Wessely Madhevere and Milton Shumba brought some much-needed stability to a chaotic Zimbabwe inning and helped them post a competitive total of 79-5.

Madhevere top-scored with an unbeaten 35 off 17 while Shumba added 18 before being dismissed on the last ball of the innings, with Zimbabwe also awarded five penalty runs after the ball rolled into De Kock’s wicketkeeping glove on the field. Zimbabwe will play Pakistan in their next Super 12 match in Perth on Thursday while South Africa faces Bangladesh, who kicked off their T20 World Cup with a labored nine-run win over the Netherlands after paceman Taskin Ahmed took four wickets.

Earlier on Monday, the Netherlands chose to bowl first and did well to restrict Bangladesh to 144 for eight on a gloomy day at Bellerive Oval. Paul van Meekeren (24) and Fred Klaassen (seven not out) produced a gallant 34-run partnership for the final wicket and slogged the Netherlands to within 12 runs of victory with two balls to spare.

But Van Meekeren was unable to clear the rope off Soumya Sarkar’s penultimate ball, sealing Bangladesh’s first win in the second round of a T20 World Cup in 17 attempts. Man-of-the-match Taskin ensured the Netherlands’ chase got off to a dreadful start as he removed opener Vikramjit Singh and number three Bas de Leede with the first two balls of the innings.

A defiant half-century from all-rounder Colin Ackermann (62) kept the Netherlands in the game but Taskin dismissed the number four in a two-wicket burst in the 17th over.

The Protea star batsman played a great inning of 106 runs from just 47 balls. But that did not save the end. Miller remained unbeaten but South Africa lost by 16 runs. As a result, Rohit Sharma’s team won the T20 series 2-0. Miller can burn with the regret of not being able to win the team despite playing such an incredible inning. And De Kock, the experienced star of the team, felt Miller’s pain equally.

That’s why he expressed his grief to Miller. De Kock apologized to Miller. De Kock came to me after the match and said, “You played well, but I apologize because it was a good wicket. India put us under pressure from the start. It was a situation where we had to bat from the first ball. It rained here, so the weather was humid. We had to drink more water.”

Quinton de Kock also batted well in the match. He scored 69 runs off 48 balls in the second T20 of the series at Gauhati Stadium on Sunday.

Apart from this, Aden Makram scored 33 runs off 19 balls at number four. But Miller continued to fight till the end but could not save the match.