ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Team Review - South Africa

South Africa Squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn

Batting -

Strengths

The South Africans have Hashim Amla opening for them along with De Kock (though he is a race against time to be fit in time for the World Cup) and they are one of the best opening combinations going around. AB De Villiers, fresh from his 31 ball 100 against the hapless West Indies, is raring to go as well. They also have Faf Du Plessis, David Miller and Duminy to follow, so that is pretty strong batting line up against any team.

Weakness

The only weakness for the Proteas is generally in their own mind. The tendency to choke in knock out clashes, their mind-melt-downs are their own making. If they can play to their potential, then there is no stopping them.

Rating - 8.5/10

Bowling - 

Strengths

Led by the furious Dale Steyn, he will be ably supported by the tall Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott. Vernon Philander and Wayne Parnell also wait in the ranks if Abbott or Philander are not picked. The spin department will be handled by Imran Tahir, who is a genuine wicket taker.

Weakness

Philander and Abbott might leak a lot of runs if the conditions do not offer them much. Tahir also has a habit of bowling plenty of full tosses or rank long hops thus giving away free runs to the opposition.

Rating - 7.5/10

Fielding - 

Strengths

One of the most athletic sides going around - Faf, Miller, Duminy and the superman AB will be looking to back up their bowlers as much as they can. One can be sure that any team facing them will have to score 20-30 extra runs to account for their brilliant fielding.

Weakness

There are no visible weakness in this squad when it comes to fielding. The only thing that can go wrong for them is if De Kock is not able to recover from his injury and De Villiers is forced to keep wickets which might affect his batting.

Rating - 8/10

Overall Summary

Once again, South Africa go into a major tournament as one of the pre tournament favorites. Can this young squad deliver, can they right the wrongs of their generations gone by, can they not choke at the key moments and seize the moment when presented with an opportunity to win... I think that they have it in them reach the semi-finals provided they bury the ghosts of yesterday.

Rating - 8/10

Given Below are the other Team Reviews that I have done

Australia
Bangladesh
England
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
West Indies