Faf du Plessis feels South Africa can shed chokers tag

Though South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis feels the current edition of the ICC World T20 is an open tournament, he considers India favour-ites, being the hosts.

“It is an open event. There are no easy games at this level. In T20 cricket, anyone can beat anyone on their day. Both the pools are wide open. The competition is going to be a cracker,” du Plessis said.

The Proteas are set to play their first warm-up game against the Indians on Saturday evening at Wankhede stadium here.

South Africa enjoyed success in the limited-overs phase of their last tour to India, winning the T20 (2-0) and ODI series, and most of their players are regulars in the Indian Premier League. du Plessis said Indian conditions were not alien to them.

“We have played a lot of cricket here. We have been playing the T20 format well in last seven months and results speak for themselves,” he added.

Whenever South Africa play an ICC tournament, the tag of chokers follows them. du Plessis said they don’t bother too much about it. “We don’t talk about it. It is something spectators and media talk about. We are trying to get this monkey of our back with a trophy. A cup will change this. We will just try to play good cricket. We have played well in pressure situations and there will be an added pressure here,” he said.

The Proteas are here after a suffering a 1-2 defeat (T20) at the hands of Australia, but they are happy with the preparations ahead of the big event.

“We didn’t do some basics right against Australia. We bowled too many wides and no-balls. We tried a few combinations and our team changed every game. I, however, feel we have the most balanced squad,” he said.