Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 24 (ANI): Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting hailed South Africa following their thumping win over India in their Super 8 stage opener in T20 World Cup, saying that the team has a “changed mental attitude and approach” and there is something “different” about them since their ICC World Test Championship win last year, their first-ever world title in any format of the game.
Proteas (SA cricket team) continued their unbeaten run in the T20 World Cup, battering India by 76 runs, their biggest loss in T20 World Cup history. After the end of their golden 12-match winning run in the T20 World Cup and a massive 17-match win streak in ICC events, Team India has to win the remainder of their fixtures against Zimbabwe and West Indies and is left at the mercy of net-run-rate as well.
Speaking in the latest episode of the ICC Review, Ponting said that over the last couple of years, the team has gone through a mentality shift and has often “dug themselves out of a hole”. Even during the match against India, they went from being 20/3 to 187/7, with a partnership between David Miller and Dewald Brevis driving them out of the woods.”
“Brevis, I thought, started that. He was outstanding in the middle order there along with David Miller, who still had the disappointment of the last final hanging over his head against India. But once again, an experienced senior player, and then Tristan Stubbs, who is, you know, has not been in the best of form probably over the last 12 months, but I think he showed his finishing class and form last night. So, a bit of a surprise for me, but you know, maybe it was just what India needed. Maybe India needed just a drop along the way and then be able to respond and bounce back really positively, which is what great teams do, especially in tournaments like this,” he added.
Ponting added that there is a “different feel” to Proteas since their WTC title win last year and a change over in terms of personnel, with Shukri Conrad taking over white-ball sides too.
“There is a lot of players who played in that Test match (the WTC final against Australia last year) that are playing in this tournament. They are very experienced with the fact, you know, Quinton de Kock coming back out of retirement, their middle-order firepower is there. Marco Jansen’s turning into a white-ball star, as well as what he has done with the red ball. Lungi Ngidi’s the other one, I think we should mention, because he has been outstanding. And once again, you know, last night, four overs for 15. Yeah, he has done a terrific job with his changes of pace and his slower balls. So, there, maybe there is that little bit more belief around this current group,” he added.
The former Australian legend said that it takes moments like the ones Proteas faced last match at 20/3, where a team digs itself out of a hole, and it does them wonders because it gives them confidence to get out of difficult situations in other big matches too.
He concluded with, “If they get there again now (a poor situation), they are not thinking about the times that it’s happened before and the negative side of it. They now know that they can dig themselves out against the best teams in the biggest tournaments. So, let us look, let us wait and see. Everything so far has been really positive for South Africa, but still a lot of big games to come.” (ANI)
