We've To Try And Keep All The Players Interested In...: Mark Boucher After South Africa's Shock T20 World Cup Exit

After his team’s shocking elimination from the ICC T20 World Cup, outgoing Proteas Men’s coach Mark Boucher sent a stinging message to Cricket SA, sparking rumours that a number of players may be moving around as well.

Before joining the Mumbai Indians for the next Indian Premier League season, Boucher’s last national team duty was the T20 World Cup in Australia.

But Boucher has since suggested that more players might be joining him in the waiting area.

“We have to try and keep all the players interested in playing for South Africa. I think that’s a big question that needs to be answered,” Boucher said in response to how he sees the Proteas’ future developing.

The most uncertain situation involves Quinton de Kock, the Proteas’ wicketkeeper and batsman.

De Kock, 29, has already limited his national team action to white-ball forms since ending his Test cricket career last year.

IOL Sport is aware that De Kock is carefully weighing his potential for a full-time T20 franchise freelancer against his overall international ambitions.

De Kock has a number of lucrative contracts with teams in the Caribbean Premier League’s Barbados Royals, the Indian Premier League’s Lucknow Super Giants, and England’s Hundred competition’s Southern Brave. The Super Giants of Durban pre-purchased him for the inaugural SA20 League season.

De Kock, though, is currently the most experienced player in the Proteas ODI setup with 135 caps and will be much-needed especially next year.

“We lost one game and we were knocked out”: Mark Boucher

The strain of having performed poorly in previous World Cups certainly imposes pressure, but Mark Boucher, whose term as South Africa’s head coach came to an end, said it’s not a connected occurrence.

“Each one is an individual event. I know there is a lot of history with South Africa in World Cup events. But at the last World Cup, I thought we played very good cricket. We lost one game and we were knocked out.”

“We would have taken the scenario in which we needed to beat the Netherlands to qualify at the start of the World Cup. But these things do happen. This is far from the only upset in this T20 World Cup. Some very good teams have been defeated by lesser teams. It makes very entertaining cricket,” Mark Boucher explained.

South Africa has a history of losing from winning situations in World Cups and has a reputation for faltering under pressure.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “Suryakumar Kumar Is Taking India To Totals That You Can Defend”: Sunil Gavaskar