Despite the heartbreaking T20 World Cup final, South Africa head coach Rob Walter showcased a surprising but truly South African perspective: “We may have lost the game in the end, but that match was a massive win for us psychologically”:
South Africa (05 July 2024) — Following the heartbreaking T20 World Cup final, South Africa head coach Rob Walter showed a surprising and inspiring dose of optimism that’ll make many South Africans proud.
While the team definitely faced the downer of disappointment, they’re looking at the future positively and even with a refreshed sense of excitement—an attitude that Rob captured, and one that many of us can take forward when it comes to readjusting ourselves to our own goals after facing hurdles.
“When you lose that way, it always hurts, and you think about all those small margins during the game. But you only end up torturing yourself thinking about one run here or there,” Walter said speaking to SportsBoom.com after returning to Johannesburg.
“Reaching the final shows that we’ve made great strides as a team and I’m excited for the future. Just look at our attack and the pacemen who didn’t play (Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger), we’ve probably got seven quick bowlers who can make an impact at that level.”
Rob powerfully adds:
“We may have lost the game in the end, but that match was a massive win for us psychologically. From 24 for four, we played outstandingly well and gave ourselves a chance, we did the same with the ball.
“I still believe that the semi-final will be the catalyst to us finally winning a world cup, and in the T20 World Cup, now we just kept chipping away and clawing our way back, there’s a lot of resilience in this team.”
Captain Aiden Markram shared this sentiment of pride for the team despite the loss.
“Everyone was shattered after the final, but Aiden found a way to put a smile on his face,” said Keshav Maharaj.
“That optimism is something we could feed off as a team, it restored our belief, and it shows how far we have come as a team. We will bounce back and I’m pretty sure Aiden will be one of the first South Africans holding the world cup.”
Sources: Supplied
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