SPORTS fans can be fickle and a friend of mine called me out when I expressed irritation over current Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis, someone I had always backed when others hadn’t.
It wasn’t that long ago when he was leading South Africa to victory over India and Australia.
But then came the World Cup and the awful Test losses to India away (understandable) and England home (not so much).
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Suddenly his shirt is too tight, he should lose the model facial hair and he should have let AB stay captain, then none of this would have happened.
I can only laugh at myself now.
The truth is probably closer to what all countries go through in sport – cycles.
A captain is usually only as good as his star players. He can’t only rely on one or two key players. There needs to be depth.
A few years ago the Springboks were the laughing stock of world rugby. Now they’re world champions.
South African cricket will dig deep and emerge from this prolonged slump.
It’s what South Africans are known for – the ability to dig deep when times are tough.
To use another sports comparison, how about Novak Djokovic at the recent Australian Open tennis tournament?
For some reason he’s never the crowd favourite, but I’ve always been a fan.
Perhaps it’s because he’s always had to fight so hard to beat the massively popular Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer.
Unfortunately, his touching of the umpire’s shoe won’t help his ‘villain of the plot’ image.
Against Dominic Thiem, he was up, then down, then further down. Then seemingly out for the count.
Yet somehow he found a way to claw his way back from the abyss and turn what seemed like inevitable defeat into a heroic victory.
Does our country have those who possess such mettle, those who can lead this nation out of the current despair many currently experience and find a way to ‘win’ for the benefit of everyone?
HAVE YOUR SAY
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