Some additional experience in India might have been enough for Lhuan-dre Pretorius to hit his straps at the top of the order.
With the nation still waiting for its first limited overs World Cup title, the Proteas cricket team need to pull up their socks over the next two months if the drought is going to end soon.
The SA squad have done better over longer formats of late, most notably winning the World Test Championship final against Australia in June.
In the shortest format, however, they have been poor, capitulating again in their 101-run defeat to India in the first of five T20 matches in Cuttack on Tuesday.
If we make comparisons across the three formats, as is often the case in cricket, the stats tell the story.
The Proteas Test team have gone unbeaten in their last 15 games, winning 13 of them (87%), and in their last 15 matches, the national ODI side have won seven games (47%).
But in the T20 format, they have won only four of their last 15 fixtures (27%).
Absence of Pretorius
And considering how the batters played against India on Tuesday, it seems like the Proteas selectors might be regretting their decision to drop top-order prospect Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
While he hasn’t exactly blown the world apart in his 12 T20 Internationals thus far (hitting just 157 runs at an average of 13.08) Pretorius has shown tremendous potential.
All he really needs is more experience to find his feet, and the ongoing five-match series in India, played in the same conditions they will face at the World Cup, might have been what he required to hit his straps and prevent the Proteas from being bundled out for 74 runs like they were in the series opener.
A phenomenal talent, Pretorius is in great form, as he proved by hitting a century in a first-class game for the South Africa A team in India last month.
His absence from the Proteas squad in the T20 series against India might come back to bite the national side if the batting line-up crumbles at the global showpiece.
Or perhaps the batters who are playing against India will find form before the World Cup and put up a fight for the trophy.
We can only hope.
