South Africa back again to get over the line that was so close last time

v Canada - February 9 - Ahmedabad
v Afghanistan - February 11 - Ahmedabad
v New Zealand - February 14 - Ahmedabad
v UAE - February 18 - Delhi

In theory, South Africa should no longer go into major tournaments wondering if it will finally be the one because they've now got one to their name. Winning the World Test Championship last June was the moment of triumph South Africa have waited almost three decades for.

In reality, there will still be questions over whether they can do the same thing in white-ball cricket, especially as the pressures are different. Unlike a prolonged WTC campaign which culminates in a one-off final, a white-ball World Cup is high-intensity and condensed, and rewards the team that can consistently win crunch moments, and has some luck along the way.

Two years ago, South Africa thought they were that team. They reeled off eight wins in a row to reach the T20 World Cup final in Barbados, were in a winning position at 151 for 4 in the 17th over, chasing 177, and then inexplicably lost four wickets for 17 runs in 23 balls and learnt that hearts can be broken in many different ways.

Nine of the 15 members of that squad are back to try again, under a new coach in Shukri Conrad, and their most capped T20I leader Aiden Markram. On paper, South Africa have all the ingredients to go far, with a strong batting line-up and several bowling options, apart from wristspin. But if there is one team who knows tournaments are not won on paper, it's them.

Since Conrad took over the all-format role, South Africa's T20I form was their poorest and they failed to win any of the six series they played between July and December last year. That included a 3-1 defeat to India in India, which could have raised alarm bells, but it is worth adding a caveat that South Africa are rarely able to field full-strength sides in T20Is. As an example, they had a team playing in Namibia (a match they lost) the day before the Test side were due to start a match in Pakistan. Last week, with the bulk of their first-choice players available, they beat West Indies 2-1 to finalise their World Cup preparations on a high. It should also be remembered that South Africa were blanked 3-nil by West Indies before reaching the 2024 final.

No Heinrich Klaasen is seemingly no problem for South Africa as a new Mr 360 has entered the arena. Dewald Brevis is an exciting, fearless batter whose signature shot is a no-look six, which speaks as much to his ability as to his confidence. In his 22 match T20I career to date, he already has one hundred and one fifty, and a strike rate of 171.32. He will bat at No.4 for South Africa, after a solid top three and ahead of the finishers, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs and Jason Smith.

Left-arm pace allrounder Marco Jansen was South Africa's new-ball trump card at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India until he got the yips in crunch matches and his reputation went from fearsome to flaky. He has had just over two years to work on his approach in tough situations and there were few tougher than last year's Test series in India, where he scored a career-best 93 in Guwahati and was the leading fast bowler. Jansen now knows how to turn it on and will want to show that in this tournament.

At 36 years old, David Miller almost missed this tournament when he suffered a groin injury at the back end of the SA20. He did not play the series against West Indies but has been cleared to travel for the T20 World Cup. It will be his sixth T20 World Cup after his first appearance in 2014 and he has increasingly played a key role. In the 2024 final, Miller was the batter at the crease with South Africa inches from victory and his dismissal, caught on the boundary by Suryakumar Yadav, was a turning point in the match. He was inconsolable immediately afterwards and there were questions over whether he would return, but his desire to win a World Cup for South Africa remains and this could be his last chance in the shortest format.

1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 Ryan Rickelton, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Lungi Ngidi

Reserves: Jason Smith, Corbin Bosch, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka