SA back to square one after Dutch calamity

CHENNAI: Let’s get one thing straight: this was no choke. This was plain and simple hara-kiri. The ‘running choke’ first came about on June 17, 1999, and the ‘non-running’ choke occurred nearly four years later on March 3, 2003, spanning different continents, different opponents, and even different centuries with the only constant being the team that was at the receiving end of that gruesome choke or chokes.

Too many ‘chokes’ already right, well that’s been the story of South African cricket in the ODI format, particularly at global events, since making its World Cup debut in 1992. Since then, it has been replete with such perpetual tearjerkers at every turn that they will even render The Bard of Avon’s tragedies pale into insignificance. However, what unfolded on October 17, 2023, wouldn’t arouse our sympathy one bit, unlike that fateful day at Edgbaston or the dreadful rain-marred night at Durban, when even if you weren’t a South African, you would have spontaneously turned on the waterworks at the dastardly nature of the gentleman’s game.

Instead, what we witnessed at Dharamsala on a frigid Tuesday evening would have undoubtedly provoked utter contempt for the lack of spunk that you expect of a team boasting such a pedigree as South Africa.

And who were they pitting their wits against this time: no one in their right mind would liken the present Netherlands team, or for that matter a Dutch team of any vintage, to the all-conquering Kangaroo outfit that was led by the redoubtable Steve Waugh, and this wasn’t a knockout match either for the Proteas to even contemplate accusing circumstances, or their frayed nerves, of letting them down.

Just when you think South Africa has turned the corner, it hastily paints itself into one.

Barely a few days ago, it had fans and neutrals alike gushing over its consummate performances that fetched it back-to-back wins over former champions Sri Lanka and Australia. This was in stark contrast to the stuttering start it got off to at the previous edition in England, where it failed to register a win until its fifth game and was among the first teams to get eliminated.

Back then it at least had a few factors beyond its control to blame for the wretched start that eventually torpedoed a campaign that was well and truly over before it even began.

Chief amongst them being the retirement saga of batting talisman AB de Villiers that shadowed the team into a distant, foreign land and whose untimely and inappropriate remarks about coming out of retirement midway through the event caused untold harm. The second being the injury-enforced withdrawal of bowling spearhead Dale Steyn.

In fairness to South Africa, every time it loses a match, be it against a formidable foe, or an also-ran, it would perhaps be unfair to label the defeat a choke.

By now, that tag has become hackneyed, so the challenge for us is to expand our vocabulary and maybe coin a new phrase that would do justice to their myriad acts of capitulation.

Continue to keep tabs on South Africa for you never know where, when, and against whom the next choke is going to happen. And as hard as it might be, we shall try and refrain from using the ‘C’ word even when the situation demands.