South Africa reset focus in bid to climb up rankings

Despite a dearth of Test cricket compared to the Big Three and several months between fixtures, South Africa, at times, took their place in the format for granted and in so doing lost some of their stature. That was the startling admission of stand-in captain Faf du Plessis ahead of the two-Test series against New Zealand, which sees South Africa competing from No. 7 on the rankings after starting the year on top.

“We had a nice culture because we were playing well and then you can almost just leave it be. Now, we want to challenge each other more and that goes right from the top, from the coaching staff to the guys carrying drinks on the field. We are trying to challenge each other more to be better and to not accept mediocrity,” du Plessis said. “We have fallen in a few traps where we play so much cricket, you just rock up and play another game of cricket but playing for South Africa is a huge honour and it’s about challenging each other to be better and to get back to being No. 1.”

The ladder back to the top cannot be climbed immediately but any margin of victory for South Africa over New Zealand will see them move up to fifth spot and for du Plessis, that’s a start. “We’ve got series at home now which can make a difference and which we will need to win. We’ve got New Zealand now and Sri Lanka later this year and in both those series, if we play well, we should win,” he said.

If South Africa hope to turn things around, they have to start by exorcising the demons that discovered them in India late last year. “We suffered a bit; we had a few ghosts after the Indian series and that was most of the guys. India was tough for us a batting unit and it left a few scars,” du Plessis said. “Now it’s a new …

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