Graeme Smith frustrated with South Africa’s performance against India

India outplayed South Africa in all three departments – batting, bowling and fielding to reach the semifinals of Champions Trophy 2017. But the way the No. 1 ODI side underperformed when it mattered the most was shocking, to say the least. And many South African veterans have echoed the same opinion.

Dismayed by South Africa’s capitulation, former captain Graeme Smith said his team was just “unrecognisable” in their loss to India in the eliminator.

India’s bowlers and batsmen were at their devastating best. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar grabbed 2 wickets each as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. South Africa were hammered by eight wickets, in which they could only muster 191 after being put into bat first.

“I still care deeply about the environment that I spent so much time building as a player, and it hurts to see such an unrecognisable South Africa performance,” Smith wrote in his column for the ICC’s official website. He further said that South Africa have been missing the spark they had during his time, and the energy from the current set of players does not match to the expectations.

“The side have been missing that spark, or that intensity to their play that characterises South Africa cricket…The positivity to our play and the energy that we’ve come to expect from this group of players just hasn’t been there.”

South Africa’s approach was wrong 

He also pointed out South Africa’s poor approach to the game, calling it ‘conservative’ and saying that if one play the way South Africa did, failing to make it to the crease again and again and in the process losing wickets of AB de Villiers and David Miller, then a loss can be the only justified result out of the game.

“Our approach was far more conservative, and if you’re going to play that way, you can’t afford the calamities that unfolded in terms of the two mid-innings run outs. They will kill any momentum you have, and suck the energy from a dressing room,” he opined.

But the veteran also praised India’s performance in the game, saying they played a much better and tactical brand of cricket than the opponents.

“Today, those key moments in the game where you look for someone to take the initiative just seemed to pass South Africa by. India played the game with more intensity, it took more risks and stuck to its method and game formula far better than the South Africa team,” he explained.

He also said that India are now the favourites to be in the finals, “India will be overwhelmingly strong favourites to make it to the final, and we’ve seen from its record at tournaments previously that it almost revel in the pressure of those occasions,” concluded Smith.