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The Indian team last won the ICC World Cup in 2011 when the tournament was played in India under the able leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the last time India won an ICC tournament was in 2013 when under his leadership they won the Champions Trophy in England. Like 2011, this time also the ODI World Cup 2023 is being played in India and former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs believes that the pressure will be maximum on the host country.
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“India are under the most pressure. They have got some big players who enjoy pressure and play really well under pressure, but I would say it is wide open because there are a lot of teams that play in subcontinent conditions. I think it will be a very exciting tournament,” Herschelle Gibbs said while speaking to ANI.
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The South African team has produced some great players including Gibbs, but they are yet to win the ICC World Cup in either the T20 format or the 50-over format. In the 1992 World Cup semi-final against England in Sydney, they were strongly challenged due to the ‘rain rule’ when they needed 22 runs to win from 13 balls, but after rain disruption the required target was revised to 22 runs from just one ball and the Proteas lost the match by 19 runs.
Their struggle for World Cup victories continued in 1996 when they topped the group stage to enter the quarter-finals with five wins in as many games, but Brian Lara’s brilliant 111 in the quarter-final match in Karachi put them out of the competition and Hansie Cronje-led South Africa lost by 19 runs.
Things went from bad to worse for the Proteas in the 1999 World Cup as they entered the semi-finals against eventual champions Australia in Birmingham, but the match ended in a tie and the Australians qualified for the Super Six stage thanks to a win against them. The Cronje-led side failed to chase down the 214-run target and were hit hard by a loss to the same team in the Super Six stage.
South Africa were the hosts in the 2003 World Cup, but even playing at home they failed to make it to the Super Six stage as the game against Sri Lanka in Durban ended in a tie due to a calculation error in a revised target by then-captain Shaun Pollock and the team management in a rain-interrupted match, and the tie resulted in the team being eliminated.
In 2007 and 2015, the South African team faltered in the semi-finals, while in 2011 and 2019, it could not even make it to the semi-finals. Hence, Gibbs, the former South African opener, feels they will have to reach the final first to stand a chance of winning the trophy.
Herschelle Gibbs explained, “I think I’ve always said we need to get to the final. Never mind the semi-final, we need to get to the final. The day we get to the final, we can win the World Cup.”
Currently, former South African opening batsman Jim Afro is the head coach of the Joburg Buffaloes in the T10 league and he believes that this will be of great benefit to Zimbabwe cricket.
“Look, it’s never good to be here so far from home. It’s an exciting time for Zimbabwe cricket. It’s disappointing that they couldn’t qualify for the World Cup. I think the tournament itself, the way it was hosted and the way it was attended was amazing. I think the T10 is another added bonus for Zimbabwe cricket, especially the light it’s played in, the attendance is good and I think there’s a lot of buzz all around. Some players are really finding form in the league and at international level. So, good times for Zimbabwe,” Gibbs said.
