{"id":1405,"date":"2017-06-14T04:37:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T00:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cricketfever.org\/?p=1405"},"modified":"2017-06-14T04:37:02","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T00:37:02","slug":"south-africa-change-leadership-champions-trophy-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cricketfever.org\/2017\/06\/14\/south-africa-change-leadership-champions-trophy-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa should change leadership after Champions Trophy failure"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Africa have been dispatched prematurely from another major tournament following their defeat at the hands of India in the ICC Champions Trophy. The Proteas needed to beat India to advance to the semi-finals of the competition, but endured a devastating defeat<\/a>, including a number of embarrassing run-outs to end their aspirations.<\/p>\n South Africa have extended their trophy drought to 19 years, with their last success coming in the ICC Knockout Trophy in 1998. Since then the nation has known nothing other than huge disappointments, with a number of frustrating and bitterly disappointing exits.<\/p>\n This included their inability to progress from the group stage when South Africa hosted the World Cup in 2003, which featured a humiliating loss regarding their Duckworth\/Lewis<\/a> calculations. The Proteas have never been able to shirk their reputation of being vulnerable under pressure, despite boasting one of the most talented sides in the world.<\/p>\n AB de Villiers\u2019 men were ranked number one by the ICC in ODI cricket before the tournament, but their early exit will likely knock down a few rungs on the ladder. Even before the Champions Trophy, the Proteas were humbled by England in a 2-1 series defeat, which kickstarted their preparations in the worst possible manner.<\/p>\n They recovered with a thumping win over Sri Lanka in their opener in the tournament, but two woeful performances with the bat cost them their semi-final berth, losing to Pakistan and India. De Villiers has already expressed his desire to lead South Africa into the 2019 World Cup, which will also be held in England. Despite their failure in the Champions Trophy, the Proteas are backed in the early cricket betting at odds of 4\/1<\/a> to win the competition for the first time.<\/p>\n However, the skipper will be 35 at the time of the tournament and the Proteas\u2019 failure in the Champions Trophy could prompt a change in leadership, with Faf du Plessis already captaining the Test and T20 sides instead of De Villiers. De Villiers is one of the finest batsmen in the world but was not able to thrive in the tournament, scoring a combined 20 runs in his three innings.<\/p>\n To get such a meagre contribution from their skipper was part of the Proteas\u2019 downfall, although he was on the receiving end of a poor run-out decision from his team-mate Du Plessis in the match against India. As a result, passing on the captaincy could be in order for South Africa to get the best out of their star man with the bat.<\/p>\n