When one speaks about title or trophy drought in cricket, the team that immediately springs to mind is South Africa, the perennial under achievers in ICC tournaments as some pundits like to say.
Perhaps, the word drought justifies their lack of silverware much like what people feel in arid lands where the weather perennially runs dry and the water bodies are just a bed of rocks with the monsoon being as much a certainty as kindness is to most destructible elements of society.
Yes, such has been the lack of trophies in the Protea cabinet that one needs to go back almost three decades, when South Africa won their one and only ICC title in the inaugural Champions Trophy dating back to 1998 with the tournament then being called the ICC Knockout Trophy.
Hansie Cronje and his chargers were rather lethal in that tournament beating England in the quarterfinals, overcoming the guile of the Sri Lankans in the semis and making the mighty West Indies look shabby in the finals to become numero uno with much valour.
This courtesy one man who at the time was just carving his niche to become the greatest all-rounder in world cricket, Jacques Henry Kallis as he was named player of the tournament mounting 164 runs in three games with a highest score of 113 and knocking eight cherries with one five wicket halt.
Perhaps an outing which undoubtedly justifies what dreams are made of!
From that magical moment to now, it’s been 27 long years and truth be told South Africa has only disappointed since, when their fans expected the world out of them, me included as the crucial times have only seen them go south when nothing less than a victory was warranted.
Having said this, the Proteas are now set to undertake another challenge as the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy is upon us which brings me to the title of this piece, can the Proteas finally end their trophy drought?
Well for the die-hard South African faithful, the answer should be an astounding yes as he sees renewed hope in the green and gold which dawns a new look courtesy Macron, who are now the apparel partners.
Keeping the new jersey look aside, perhaps this hope also comes in good measure considering their recent performancein global events, as the Proteas over the last two ICC Tournaments have been rather clinical with ascending to the semifinal of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India and the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean Islands.
The core of the unit which was so successful in these two ICC events is still the same with the likes of Markram, Miller, Klaasen, Rabada and others under the able tutelage of captain Bavuma being undoubtedly keen to finally bring it home.
But make no mistake, the task won’t be easy.
The Proteas have a determined Afghanistan, a reeling England and a resilient Australia to conquer before they can harbour any ambitions of making it to the final four. One bad day and it could spell curtains with the format of this event being rather tight, making losing not an option.
South Africa would have to be at their best against all these three teams with the Afghans beating them in a recent bilateral series in Sharjah, the English more than desperate to arrest their losing streak courtesy the indomitable Men in Blue and Australia determined to prove their resilience despite not having their famed trio of Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins in their bowling ranks.
As the highly anticipated match between South Africa and Afghanistan approaches this Friday, February 21st, the excitement is palpable. The fan painted in green and gold would most certainly pray this to be the moment the Proteas finally experience the sweet taste of an ICC Trophy victory.
After years of near-misses, the wait for South Africa to claim the ultimate prize may have been far too long—but the renewed hope should be the ointment to overcome the pain of this never-ending drought.
P.S. – The Protea XI for the Champions Trophy as predicted by the author:
Temba Bavuma, Ryan Rickelton, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada
