Well-oiled South Africa fly under the radar

South Africa's hour of reckoning is here. Again.

Every time South Africa go into an event, there's the yin and yang of those expecting them to fail and those willing them to succeed. This time, that has been played down by South Africa's first summer of struggle in seasons. They lost successive Test series and were toppled from the top ranking, but redeemed themselves with victories in limited-overs matches. Still, they go into the World T20 under the radar, especially because they still have questions over team composition.

In their line-up, South Africa are trying to make room for all of AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla without sacrificing anyone in the middle order. In their attack, they are choosing between a fit-again Dale Steyn and the men who have played in his absence, including Kyle Abbott and Chris Morris.

There are also the unsaid undercurrents controlling selection. South Africa's transformation targets require four players of colour and at least one black African in the playing XI. This increases the focus on the opportunities afforded to Farhaan Behardien and Aaron Phangiso, the latter of whom traveled to the 2015 World Cup and did not play a game. Like many things about South Africa, there are layers upon layers to consider, but a trophy will peel them all away.

Faf du Plessis had only played four T20I matches for South Africa when he was appointed their captain in December 2012 but seemed a natural choice. Of the three leaders South Africa have had recently - Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and du Plessis - du Plessis appears the most in control, the most tactically aware, the calmest under pressure and the most articulate with the press and the public. His own performances have blossomed with the additional responsibility. Du Plessis has scored 905 T20I runs at 43.09 including a century since taking over and is five runs away from becoming the second South African to 1,000 T20I runs. He has overseen series wins in Bangladesh and India ahead of the tournament and has built a squad he believes "ticks all the boxes" for this tournament.

The number of matches South Africa have played between the last World T20, which ended on April 6, 2014 and this tournament. Among the eight teams who automatically qualify for the main draw, only Pakistan have played more T20 matches - 20 - in that period, with India also playing 17. West Indies (8), England (9) and Australia (11) have had the fewest games, while Sri Lanka (14) and New Zealand (13) have had a decent run. South Africa try to pack in as much practice as possible, to allow for as much experimentation as they can, but it has backfired on them in the past. Over-preparing and over-complicating sometimes gives them too many choices, although they will hope that's not the case this time.

His reputation for innovation may lead to assumptions that AB de Villiers is a record-breaker for South Africa in the format but the numbers prove otherwise. De Villiers is not South Africa's top run-getter in T20s - that's JP Duminy - or top-ranked batsman - that's Faf du Plessis - and his average is just 22.87. "I'm a little bit short in international T20 runs, my record doesn't look very good and I'm well aware of that. I really want to improve on that," de Villiers said. His promotion to the top of the order means he will have more time at the crease and face more of the bowling, giving him a chance to set things right. His performance in the PowerPlay will be crucial to getting South Africa off to good starts.

At just 20-years-old, Kagiso Rabada has impressed with his accuracy, aggression and astute thinking, making him South Africa's go-to man. Rabada is used to setting the tone at the start of the innings, sometimes even ahead of Dale Steyn, and bowling at the death, where he has achieved feats like defending 11 in an over with MS Dhoni at the crease. He was South Africa's joint-highest wicket-taker in their most recent series, against Australia, and is expected to lead the attack into a new era.

Who would have thought that South Africa's main weapon would be a spinner? That is exactly what they have in Imran Tahir. Ranked third in the world behind Sunil Narine and R Ashwin, Tahir has proved himself as both an attacker and a containing bowler who can control the middle periods of innings. He uses his googly with deception and discernment. On surfaces that should suit him, his skills could give South Africa an edge.

Is this the one?

At press conferences in South Africa, this question gets asked as though it is some sort of code. South Africans are done with the hand-wringing and perennial wondering about when they will be able to add a major trophy to their accolades and have reached a consensus that the law of averages dictates that at some point they will be crowned champions. For now, they're pretending to be patient enough to wait for the wheel to turn while secretly hoping it has spun in their favour and that this really is the one.

South Africa have reached the semi-finals twice, in 2009 and 2014 and both times lost in close encounters. They were knocked out in the first round of the 2007 event, despite losing just one game, and bombed out at the same stage in 2010 and 2012. Overall, they have won 16 and lost 10 matches across the five tournaments.

"In the build-up to this World Cup there have been some real pressure moments when the team has stood up and done well. The only way you can get rid of that [the chokers tag] is when you manage to perform under pressure. I suppose that is 2 or 5 percent difference that you get in a World Cup, it is just a little bit more pressure. For me it is about our preparation, which has been really good." - South Africa captain Faf du Plessis