[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Squad: Temba Bavuma ©, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Rassie Van der Dussen, Marco Jansen, Andile Phehlukwayo, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lizaad Williams.

No trophy, no final, and only one knockout game ever won: the South African World Cup litany is a familiar one, and hardly any more comforting for the fact that it was no knockout games until 2015, and the women's side at last broke the finals duck earlier this year. These baby steps towards achieving greatness on the world stage all feel underwhelming for a cricketing powerhouse that's been on the case for over thirty years and has seen golden generations come and go in that time (Hashim Amla, Faf Du Plessis and Imran Tahir are among the legends to have bowed out since 2019); but conversely, the lack of expectation that record engenders, combined with a team that's looking quietly decent (if not as star-studded and highly-feted as previous squads), raises the possibility of dark-horsedom from the Proteas in India.

Of the top fifteen batsmen in the ODI rankings, five are South African - two more than any other team can boast - while the bowling attack boasts every conceivable option in the formidable aggression of Kagiso Rabada, the left-arm swing of the 6 ft 8 Marco Jansen, the searing pace of Lungi Ngidi and the leftie spin twins of Tabraiz Shamsi (unorthodox, prone to leak runs but also wreck middle orders) and Keshav Maharaj (orthodox and highly economical). Anrich Nortje missing out on a second consecutive tournament due to injury is the sole fly in the ointment, but may open a door for promising youngster Gerald Coetzee, who took four-fer in the win over Australia that sparked the Proteas' remarkable comeback from 2-0 down to take the bilateral series 3-2 in mid-September. Even with that fresh wind in their sails, it'd be a brave man who bet on South Africa to go all the way this time round, but baby steps can take even the wobbliest legs further than they dare imagine.

Highest World Cup total: 411-4 vs Ireland (Canberra, 2015)
Lowest World Cup total: 149 vs Australia (Gros Islet, 2007)
Highest World Cup innings: 188*, Gary Kirsten vs United Arab Emirates (Rawalpindi, 1996)
Best World Cup bowling figures: 5-18, Andrew Hall vs England (Bridgetown, 2007)
Leading World Cup run-scorer: Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, 1,207 runs
Leading World Cup wicket-taker: Imran Tahir, 40 wickets


Tournament Schedule: Sri Lanka, Australia, Netherlands, England, Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Zealand, India, Afghanistan