T20 World Cup 2022: The ongoing T20 World Cup in South Africa has been nothing short of amazing. As far as the magnitude of the tournament is considered, the tournament got its last two sem-finalists on the last day of the Super 12s stage. This edition of the tournament is certainly a good endorsement for the shortest format of the game and the semi-finals are expected to be peppered with high-octane drama as India play England and Pakistan clash with New Zealand in the race to qualify for the all-important finals.
On the final day of the Super 12 stage, the Proteas team led by skipper Temba Bavuma faced a massive heartbreak. They fell short to Netherlands by a margin of 13 runs. The Proteas team had made an explosive start to their World Cup campaign and remained at the top of the points table for more than half of the tournament, but their losses to Pakistan and Netherlands ended their run of clinching the trophy. A win would have seen them through and would have made things tougher for both India and Pakistan but they faltered and added a new chapter in their history of being chokers.
Owing to this loss against a relatively weak Netherlands side, the Proteas now find themselves in a whirlwind of criticism and anguish from their fans. Temba Bavuma in particular is in the midst of all the questions that are being raised. The Proteas skipper has been in a bad run and he didn't have any impact on the ongoing World Cup too. Bavuma spoke at length about the Chokers tag and didn't mince words.
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Bavuma added:
Gutted, absolutely gutted by how things went. It is the choker's tag that will always be there. Going forward, we will have to identify our shortcomings and work out our way to get into the finals. Before it happens, we will have to carry the monkey on our backs.
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South Africa's loss was Pakistan's and India's gain. When Babar Azam's men lost to Zimbabwe, they had lost all hopes to qualify for the semis, but as the Proteas lost to Netherlands, it opened the gates for Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan have qualified for the semis now and will have a legitimate chance to clash in the finals.
