The Sunday Independent

Proteas need to create a new era of success

STUART HESS stuart.hess@inl.co.za

QUINTON de Kock and Kagiso Rabada are the two biggest stars in the Proteas men’s team.

That’s not to be disrespectful to their teammates. Time was when a rudimentary sports fan in South Africa could reel off the names of at least a handful of Proteas; Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Steyn, Ntini…

That’s not the case any more. The lack of success, largely due to a number of those players retiring in relatively quick succession, has meant there are fewer, what could be termed ‘household names,’ in the current Proteas set-up.

De Kock and Rabada are the main two.

They’re also senior players and thus automatically leaders within the squad. Their performances will always be held to a higher standard, and because they’re the most recognised names, the ones that fans will look for first. When the team loses, a larger portion of the blame will be directed their way.

Neither have been at their best in recent months. Rabada was injured for part of last summer, and while he didn’t play badly in Pakistan upon his return, as leader of the attack, he didn’t produce performances of sufficiently high standard over an extended period as many have come to expect from him. Even in the IPL, his performances lacked explosiveness.

However, in the opening Test against the West Indies Rabada has been back to his best. He didn’t get the rewards in the first innings that the quality of his bowling deserved, but as the attack’s leader he built pressure and set the tone. Pleasingly, in the second innings he didn’t relent, with a couple of wickets on the second evening the result of his unerring accuracy.

De Kock, too, has suffered with poor form of late. Wasn’t helped by having the captaincy of the limited overs and Test sides thrust upon him nor that there was also so much back and forth about where he should bat.

Then there’s been the pandemic and specifically the fact that demands on sportsmen are extreme these days in terms of isolation in bio-secure environments.

De Kock spoke in typically uncomplicated fashion about his struggles with bio-bubbles over the last year. Rather than the captaincy, he found living, playing and training in bio-bubbles “too much.”

The break after the Pakistan tour certainly seems to have done him the world of good. Besides being his highest Test score, his unbeaten 141 was also a performance of high quality with his technique proficient and his thinking clear.

“He’s an x-factor player... the way he played at the back-end of the innings on a wicket that is doing a bit, just shows his character and also the danger he poses to any opposition team.”

De Kock and Rabada would be the main dangers for the opposition. That they seem motivated and back in form for this series can only be good for the Proteas, and the two captains, Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma.

Whatever success South Africa is going to achieve in the short term particularly - while other players grow more accustomed to the international game - will be dependent on the two of them producing more of what we’ve seen in St Lucia.

They need to drag the others along with them, help build confidence within the Proteas side, and hopefully through the success that follows, grow the excitement among supporters as well.

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2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thesundayindependent.pressreader.com/article/281861531449226

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