Former South Africa National Cricket Team skipper Graeme Smith has said that the lack of batting depth is a huge concern for the Proteas heading into the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 is scheduled to be held from October 5 to November 19 in India. Ahead of the competition, South Africa faced injury issues and they were forced to make two changes to their squad. Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala were ruled out due to their respective injuries and Andile Phehlukwayo and Lizaad Williams were named as replacements.

Speaking to PTI, Graeme Smith said that South Africa not having a batting depth is a big concern for the side.

“Where they fall short is, they don’t have a lot of depth in batting like some of the other teams have. Who is going to be that all-rounder for them at No. 7? Marco Jansen or someone else,” Smith said during an exclusive interview with PTI.

With the World Cup being played in India, spinners are expected to play a massive role in the competition and South Africa have got two quality spinners – Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi – in their squad. According to Graeme Smith, Maharaj is going to be South Africa’s key to success in the tournament.

“Whether they go with two spinners or not but Keshav Maharaj needs to have an outstanding tournament. Obviously, he has Tabraiz Shamsi on his wings but the reliability of Maharaj is key to Temba as a captain,” said Smith.

Rabada, we all know how world-class he is – Graeme Smith

The 42-year-old labeled Kagiso Rabada as a world-class bowler and said that he would have to perform to the best of his abilities in the marquee tournament.

“Rabada, we all know how world-class he is and we would like him to have an incredible World Cup tournament. Always carries a lot on his shoulders and you need a couple of key players to play well and then push through knock-out of the tournament and give yourself good chances back-to-back to hold that trophy,” he said.

While talking about Anrich Nortje’s absence, Graeme Smith said that it is indeed a massive blow and he will be missed.

“I think Nortje in particular, to win in India in a long tournament, you need players who can contribute. Nortje’s pace through the air, wicket-taking ability is certainly going to be missed.”

Graeme Smith also said that South Africa will have a successful campaign in the World Cup if 6-7 big players deliver great performances.

“If South Africa need to be successful, they would need their 6-7 big players to really have a great World Cup. If you look at top-order you have Quinton, Temba and in that middle-order, really you have really good players of spin, power players like David Miller, Heinrich Klassen and Aiden Markram that’s going to be key area for South Africa if they are going to be successful.”

South Africa National Cricket Team will begin their World Cup 2023 campaign with the clash against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on October 07.

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