South Africa’s white-ball coach, Rob Walter, believes the outcome might be different if they face India in the World Cup final in 2023. Rob Walter believes Temba Bavuma and his teammates will rapidly learn from their humiliating loss to India on Sunday (November 5) in Kolkata.
The Proteas suffered their worst ODI defeat, losing by 243 runs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The hosts skittled out the opponents for 83 after amassing an impressive total of 326, with Ravindra Jadeja taking a fifer.
Rob Walter stated at the post-match press conference that the sport offers new lessons every day and that he hopes South Africa can carry them forward. He stated:
“Yeah, this game is a funny game and you get taught new lessons every single day and get surprised every single day. So, it wouldn’t surprise me if the tables turned the next time around. The beauty of it is that there may well be another shot for us and we’ve been given an opportunity to learn from.”
The Proteas have performed admirably while batting first in the competition, but have been vulnerable once again while chasing. They had previously lost to the Netherlands and had barely made it home against Pakistan.
“They’ve won every game and they’ve won it well” – Rob Walter on India
The 48-year-old conceded that the Proteas did not execute their talents properly, emphasizing how important it is to do so against a world-class team like India. He stated:
“I mean, they’re a hell of a team. And very well balanced and highly skilled. There’s no way around it. They’ve won every game and they’ve won it well. You have to believe that on a day if you execute your skills, you’ve also got a chance and we just didn’t right from the word go.”
Rob Walter
Rob Walter also predicted that Marco Jansen will recover in the future bouts after faltering in Kolkata, saying:
“We know already what Marco Jansen can do with a new ball, today was an off day, the guy’s a young guy playing in a World Cup, he’s played seven excellent games to point and didn’t have a great start today and could just as easily bowl very well the next time we find ourselves against him if we’re able to.”
Rob Walter
South Africa will play Afghanistan in their last league game on November 10 in Ahmedabad.