ICC Men’s T20 World Cup West Indies & USA 2024’s runners-up, South Africa, kick off their quest for an ICC Men's T20 World Cup title with a warm-up game against defending champions India on February 4. Nasser Hussain, Mel Jones, and Ian Bishop discussed the absence of Heinrich Klaasen for South Africa and the strength of their side heading into the tournament.
Nasser Hussain reflected on Heinrich Klaasen’s absence for South Africa:
“Heinrich Klaasen’s absence is odd. Just look at the year South African cricket has had, both men and women; it’s been incredible. Despite all the challenges South African cricket has faced and the way they’ve managed them, this is one situation I would have liked them to handle differently. I don’t know if they could have managed it better, but I would have gone to him and said, ‘I don’t care what you do, you are such a key player for us. When we get to India and Sri Lanka for a T20 World Cup, you are my number one pick, and I want you there.’ It may have happened, or it may not have, I don’t know. He may have said, ‘No, that’s not for me, I’m moving on,’ and that’s fine because everyone is replaceable. Every single cricketer is replaceable. But he is such a good player, especially against spin, which is going to be crucial in this tournament. So that is a blow for South Africa.”
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Mel Jones admitted that the ICC World Test Championship Final England & Wales 2025 win would have been a morale booster for South Africa:
“The happiness, joy, and elation of performing for your nation, and then bottling all those feelings up, is significant. For those who didn’t play or weren’t part of that World Test Championship victory, I know they would have been watching. Everyone in South Africa was watching. That presents a challenge for the coaching staff to ensure they don’t keep going back to it, because this is a different tournament and you don’t want to alienate players. There is a strong sense of what South Africa represents as a nation and what cricket does for the country, and you can certainly feed off that, but you don’t want it to become the be-all and end-all. I watched them in Australia recently, and there’s a swagger about South African cricket at the moment, which is quite cool. It reminded me of the West Indies back in the day, when they would turn up and you’d think they were going to beat you, but you still loved watching them. They’ve brought through a variety of players, with both bat and ball, and they are now the team everyone is looking over their shoulder at. Bowlers would have breathed a sigh of relief when Klaasen said he wasn’t involved anymore because that suddenly cuts your bowling meetings in half. Even so, when you look at that squad, something is brewing there.”
Ian Bishop expressed his excitement at seeing the depth and mix of youth and experience in South Africa’s squad:
“I’m taking everything into account, the women, men, and the under-19s reaching semi-finals and finals. It’s something I mentioned to Aiden Markram at the presentation after the 2024 final, when I said his time would come. I don’t know when that will be, or whether you include the World Test Championship as part of that moment, but when you look through their side, you see the talent they have. We’ve mentioned Klaasen and what’s missing, but Quinton de Kock is still available, and there are players like Dewald Brevis, who can, and probably will, take world cricket by storm. You still have Aiden Markram and other experienced players as well. I don’t know exactly where it’s coming from, but I continue to be very excited about South African cricket, especially while Kagiso Rabada and the rest of those guys still remain involved across formats.”
