Lonwabo Tsotsobe says that the Proteas need to dismiss any thoughts of ‘choking’ if they want to win the World Cup.

Tsotsobe, who is serving an eight-year ban handed to him in 2017 after admitting to attempting to fix matches in the 2015 Ram Slam T20 Challenge, believes the Proteas have a chance to break their World Cup duck.

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The 35-year-old, who played five Tests and 61 ODIs for the Proteas, urged his home country to ignore any thoughts of ‘choking’, a tag that has followed the side due to their failure to lift the trophy, despite their dominance in world cricket.

‘I think anything is possible for the Proteas, but it comes down to what attitude they will have going towards the World Cup. If they have a cloud of self-doubt hanging over them and an inner-voice that says, “We are probably going to choke again,” then they have already lost,’ he told Sport24.

‘However, if they hold a positive mindset and envisage themselves reaching the final, they can make history and break our World Cup duck. We all know that South Africa aren’t underdogs and are surely one of the favourites.

‘For me, you don’t want to let players go in as underdogs because they then run the risk of not playing to their full capacity. The coaches need to tell the players, “Listen, guys, you are good enough to do this, so go out and do what you do best.”’

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