CRICKET | South Africa needs calmer heads in pressure situations: Gibbs

Former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs discusses Proteas' fear of failure and the need for calmer heads in pressure situations.

On a bright morning in Barbados last year, another gloomy episode in South Africa’s history of heartbreaks at International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments unravelled. It conspired to botch up a run chase against India that had boiled down to needing 30 runs from the final five overs with six wickets in hand. The meltdown in the final was as inexplicable as it was predictable, for the Proteas had blundered in such situations before.

For South Africa to shed past baggage and bid for glory in the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, former opening batter Herschelle Gibbs feels his countrymen have to find a way around the “fear of failure”. Other than winning the Wills International Cup in 1998, which was subsequently rebranded as the Champions Trophy, the African nation hasn’t ever lifted a marquee title.

In the current tournament in Pakistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Temba Bavuma-led team began with an emphatic win over Afghanistan before rain washed out the game against Australia.

“It is the fear of failure and I have seen it many times,” Gibbs, who was in the national capital to promote the India Corporate T20 Bash, told reporters on Wednesday.

“The same thing happened in the T20 World Cup. That’s always going to be an issue until we end up winning one. It is just the fear of failure. We have got the talent. We need calmer heads in pressure situations. We need to find guys in domestic cricket who like the pressure. We don’t have that yet.”

Elaborating on that T20 World Cup final, Gibbs pointed to Heinrich Klaasen’s dismissal on 52 in the 17th over as the deciding factor. “The shot that Klaasen played was very surprising. We needed only 23 (26) from 24 balls. You can’t lose a game from there. The man who’s in should take you home,” the 51-year-old from Cape Town sighed.

Having built his reputation predominantly on the back of his exploits in ODI cricket, Gibbs’ comments on the health of the 50-over game were also sought.