Faf du Plessis says the Proteas have the best bowling attack at the T20 World Cup and a team that can win the tournament.
South Africa have made an impressive start to their T20 World Cup campaign in Australia.
They were very unlucky not to beat Zimbabwe in Hobart when the match was abandoned due to rain with the Proteas needing just 13 more runs from another four overs. Quinton de Kock was unbeaten on 47 off 18 balls at the time.
However, South Africa put that disappointment behind them with a clinical 104-run win against Bangladesh in Sydney, with Rilee Rossouw scoring the first century of the tournament and Anrich Nortje taking four wickets.
With Pakistan having lost their first two matches, the Proteas can take a big step towards qualifying for the semi-finals by beating India in Perth on Sunday (1pm SA time).
Du Plessis, whose book Faf: Through Fire just went on sale, told the Sunday Times that South Africa had assembled a side capable of breaking their World Cup drought.
“I think we’ve got probably one of the best teams we’ve had at a World Cup, especially on the fact of what is required and the conditions that we have there,” he said.
“We are playing in Australia, where the pitches are very good for batting, but also if you have got some high pace bowling and very good spinners [you have a good chance]. I think our bowling attack is the best bowling attack at the World Cup.
“We have got [Kagiso] Rabada, [Anrich] Nortje, [Lungi] Ngidi and [Wayne] Parnell. It is four very different seam bowlers who all can bowl quick or get a bounce.
“And then we’ve got two fantastic spinners in [Keshav] Maharaj and [Tabraiz] Shamsi. Our bowling is the best and that’s the main thing. I’ve always said that if you want to do well at the World Cup, you need your guys to be in form.”
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Du Plessis said the Proteas would be feeling confident after their first two matches and that beating India would give them even more self-belief.
“The next game against India is a big game for us and if we win that game – which I know we can definitely do because we’ve been playing some really good cricket – the guys will believe that no one can stop them.”
