South Africa and World Cups aren’t best of pals. It’s the pressure that has majorly got the better of the side. This time though, ahead of the 2019 World Cup, Faf du Plessis is asking his players not to focus on doing special things. For at least this time, it’s about enjoying the tournament for the South Africa captain.
“We believed you had to be really special to win the World Cup, that you had to do something more than you usually do, which is not true,” du Plessis said on Saturday (May 18). “Whatever we’ve been doing consistently, the way we’ve played while beating teams that will work. We have to do the basics as well as possible, teams don’t win the World Cup by someone scoring a century off 50 balls or taking 7 for 20.
“I’ve been there and I know the pressures, I understand how to deal with them. There’s a reason why we want the guys to play freely – because we don’t want them to have a fear of failure, which is what the World Cup is for some of them. Our success in England over the next couple of months depends on how well we release that aspect of our play – we need that for the team to be at our best. Each player needs to find out his own strengths.
“The players relate better to fellow players and I’m on the same level as the coach when it comes to the importance of the mental side. I’m a big believer in positive visualisation, how to remain calm, and I feel it has had value for my own game. So I can relate that to the players, how important it is to be present in the moment; for instance when there’s been a dropped catch, there’s nothing you can do about it and it’s about how you change your mindset to make sure you are still strong mentally.”
The heat will on right from the first game as South Africa will clash against tournament favourites England and India in two of their first three matches. Du Plessis hinted that senior players won’t necessarily walk into the playing XIs and will have to earn their rights in the warm-up games.
