South African Marco Jansen and his teammates (ANI Photo) TimesofIndia.com in New Delhi: South Africa are unbeaten in the T20 World Cup. Apart from the double Super Over against Afghanistan, they have trounced top teams including India, whom they beat by 76 runs. South Africa will be hoping to shed their brand of ‘chokers’ on a seven-match winning streak.The brand’s legacy has followed the Proteas for the past two decades. It started with the 1999 World Cup loss to Australia and lasted until the 2024 T20 World Cup when they lost the final to India in the Caribbean.
T20 World Cup: Ashwell Prince press conference ahead of SA vs ZIM
Now the reigning World Test Championship winners are the team to beat in the T20 World Cup being played in India and Sri Lanka. Their winning run continued with a 5 wicket win over Zimbabwe on Sunday. Coach Shukri Conrad was asked if that brings pressure and the much-dreaded reminder that they are chokers?“There’s always pressure. I think it’s what you do with that pressure and how you shift the pressure. As for the C-word (chokers), I think there’s another one for that – ‘cupcakes.’ I’m sure we enjoyed it,” Conrad said.The reference to the cupcake is related to the TV commercial before the India vs. South Africa’s Super Eight where an Indian fan jokingly told South Africa supporters about “history repeating” from the 2024 T20 World Cup and teased them over a cupcake. But after South Africa beat India in Ahmedabad, that kick was turned on its head.“No, the pressure is always there and it’s really about accepting that pressure. And we don’t do things differently. We’ll prepare for New Zealand exactly the same. Whether we start as favourites? Probably because we’re the only unbeaten side in the competition. But I don’t know if that adds to the pressure,” Conrad continued.“I think the semi-final is enough pressure. Playing hard in New Zealand is enough pressure. So there’s no extra pressure there.”“I’m happy we’re favourites, because I’ve always felt as a South African team you want to play as favourites, because it’s easy to be the underdog. The expectations aren’t that high. But if we can keep doing what we’re doing, we also need a bit of luck along the way.”“Hopefully it will give us a result on Wednesday and then at our ‘home ground’ in Ahmedabad,” he concluded cheekily.
