ICC World Cup 2011: We can change the way we play now - Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith, the South African captain, stated that his team is better prepared than their last World Cup appearance in 2007 as they are more open to changes.
“We stuck to a similar style of play in 2007, and now we can change the way we play,” adding that they can be more “unpredictable.”
This would be the first time, perhaps, that the team will not be going into the World Cup as favourites to win the coveted title. The Proteas were deemed as the 1999, 2003, and 2007 event’s favourites, but they crashed out of the event on all three occasions.
Smith, who will be stepping down as the One Day captain after the World Cup, said that he believed the 2007 World Cup debacle was due to the pressure that resulted in their exit from the semi-final. However, he added that the current team is more relaxed.
“Yes, you have to want to win the World Cup and that has to be your mindset, but we are much more relaxed in terms of the way want to do things,” Smith stated before adding that they want to take everything step by step.
The 30-year-old skipper, who will be appearing in his third World Cup, said that the team’s preparation is different this time due to the presence of young players. Eleven players of the 15-member squad have never played in the cricket extravaganza and many
of those players make up the core of the Proteas team.
“We were a little bit too rigid (in 2007) in terms of players and squad...we have a lot more options (now),” Smith continued to compare the current team with the 2007 team that he led in the Caribbean.
The Proteas are really geared up after a close contest against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, that saw them winning the series 3-2 last month. The team will be travelling to the Subcontinent this week to begin their
World Cup preparations by playing two warm-up games, the first of which will be played on February 12th, before playing their first World Cup match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 on the 24th of February in India.
Tags: