“I hope that the poor run in ICC events will end here itself,” says South Africa coach Gary Kirsten. South Africa has never played well in the major ICC events despite carrying a repo of being one of the strongest team in the competition. Kirsten feels that it’s a high time to break the shackles and also to stop dwelling on the Dale Steyn’s fitness, which has certainly ruled him out for the game against Pakistan.
South African coach was quoted by Deccan Chronicle saying, "Generally what we do is play very well and then lose, so maybe it's not a bad thing that we haven't fired yet. I like to think of that as a bit of an omen." South Africa are in the situation where every match from here is do or die and they need to play some quality cricket in Edgbaston on Monday to advance to further stages.
He added, "But the problem with this competition is that we can't have another bad game because then we're out of the competition.” South Africa had a great training session with their newcomer Chris Morris, who has been called as a replacement for Morne Morkel. Morkel was forced to return home after suffering a groin injury against India in Cardiff on Thursday.
Kirsten was quoted by Times of India saying, "We want to have five fast bowlers that we can pick at any point. We don't have much time. We've got to play well from here on in. So we have to play well and not half-well."
Kirsten is still upbeat despite the fact that Steyn is still not sure to play. "I've been with this team for two years. Morne has been injured once and Dale has never been injured. Now it's come together. That's a pretty tricky situation now.”
He added, “But I'd like to think that if we've grown as a one-day team, guys can replace them (Steyn and Morkel) and do well. We can either use it as an excuse when we play badly or it can be an opportunity for some new guys to come in and make an impact in as tough a competition as you can get.”
"It's a challenge, because if we allow him to bowl and the injury is aggravated, we will be back to square one. The physiotherapist is working hard on him and taking it day by day. It's a wait and see thing. Dale is a work in progress as far as recovery is concerned. We can only get him to start bowling once he is symptom-free," Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa's team manager and doctor, explained.