New Delhi: While South Africa were touted as the favourites to win ICC Champions Trophy 2017, the World No. 1 side once again buckled under pressure against India in a do-or-die ICC Champions Trophy match on Sunday.
After a shocking defeat against Pakistan, Proteas needed to win the virtual quarter-final against the Men in Blue, but failed to do so, as a result of goof-ups in all departments of the game.
As South Africans failed to handle pressure yet again in a knock-out match, the question in everybody's mind was – what happens to this champion team in major ICC tournaments?
AB de Villiers was asked the question at the post-match conference and here's what he had to say:
"Tournaments are little bit different. You play different teams all the time on different venues. So, it's a big challenge. No one said it was going to be easy. But we do come up short for some reason in tournaments like this. And it is pretty sad. I can't explain to you what exactly happens," he said.
De Villiers, who was run-out in the crucial match, blamed the poor batting performance for the loss.
"I think you saw it out there today, just a very poor batting performance. Nothing to do with the energy or intensity or belief in the team. We felt we had a great chance today, we came here to win the game of cricket and we just unravelled as a side out there," he added.
Much to the dismay of the South African fans, their team has been given the title of "Chokers", as time and again, they have failed to get over the finishing line.
South Africa were the first winners of the Champions Trophy, then known as the ICC Knockout, in Bangladesh in 1998.
Since then, despite reach the semi-final stages on numerous occasions, they have failed to make it to the final.
