After World Cup exit, South Africa say their preparations were hurt by IPL

The daggers are out once the failure is confirmed. Four-time semi-finalists South Africa failed miserably in the ICC World Cup 2019 and crashed out of the tournament after losing to Pakistan by 49 runs. The Proteas managed to beat only bottom-placed Afghanistan in their seven outings in the tournament and such a disappointing show is bound to upset a lot of people. However, within hours of finding themselves out of the fray, the South Africans have started coming up with excuses and one of them is the Indian Premier League (IPL).

South Africa are one team whose planning was not up to the mark for the big event. And now, Cricket South Africa (CSA) officials have started pointing out that it was because of the T20 tournament in India that their preparations were hampered since the board could not control its players against playing in the cash-rich tournament.

Two of South Africa’s premier pace bowlers Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada got injured while playing the IPL and Rabada though still made it to the ground at the World Cup, Steyn could not. The 24-year-old, however, has been in poor form at the World Cup and skipper Faf du Plessis has opined about the former’s ordinary show.

Du Plessis said after the heart-breaking loss to Pakistan that he and few others were against some of the top players from participating in the IPL. And CSA even had a meeting with the team management to decide on releasing players for the T20 league reports suggest.

‘Players were keen to play in the IPL’

“CEO Thabang Moroe, President Chris Nenzani and coach Ottis Gibson even had meetings on the release of the players for the IPL. This was during the series against Sri Lanka. While I am not aware if the team management also wanted the players to return early and attend a camp before leaving for England, there was some debate on the release keeping an eye also on the workload. But the players were keen to be a part of the IPL from the beginning,” a CSA official said, reflecting on the board’s helplessness.

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When Rabada complained of a stiff back during the IPL, he was told to return home at once and take rest for the World Cup. However, it didn’t work out that way as the pacer was far from his best in the tournament, picking only six wickets at an average of almost 51, much worse than his career ODI figures. Faf even noted that Rabada’s pace was not up to the mark at the World Cup.

South Africa have two academic fixtures now at the World Cup left – against Sri Lanka and Australia – and they would like to end their campaign on a positive note.