South Africa Nadine de Klerk believes that her team has been disappointed at the ICC World Championship and is fully focused on jumping back against the hosts of India. Proteas was in their tournament opening against England, a defeat that De Klerk described as a “eye opener”, but the one who has since supported the team’s determination.
DE Klerk, who spoke before Thursday’s clash, said South Africa had taken over valuable lessons from this loss and approaching the upcoming match with the renewed decision. “I think it was just an open -end eye and we have to be ready for every game we play,” she said. “It was unexpected and we were blowing, which is never nice. But everyone took it in person and we were moving quickly. We are much better than 69.”
De Klerk acknowledged that to face India at home would be a difficult test, but expressed confidence in the preparation and thinking of her team. “It’s a really exciting challenge,” she said. “The key will start well – either take a few goals early, or replace the momentum to silence the crowd. If you mix first, you want to hit the teams early and put the teams on the hind leg.
Meanwhile, India was looking forward to the strong start of its World Cup campaign, mostly thanks to their disciplined bowling unit. DE Klerk said that South Africa was well aware of the threat that an Indian attack, especially their spinths, was. “India has a quality bowling attack. Their new balls were quite successful, even in conditions that suit the spinning. But we expect it to be spinning-whenever we played them,” she noted. “I think anyone plays the best will come to the top.”
The key focus for South Africa will be the stop of the Indian opener to smoke Mandhan, which has an impressive record against them – 906 runs at 18 ODI on average 53.29. “He’s a good player,” de Klek admitted. “We will try to keep it calm or soon under pressure. Breaking this opening rack with RAWAL is essential.”
– ends
Published:
Amar Pancker
Published on:
8 October 2025
