Coach Walter after home whitewash: SA will ‘shine through’ in Champions Trophy

South Africa will find a way to “pull together” for the Champions Trophy 2025 after suffering their first ODI whitewash at home and without any more match practice with a full-strength squad ahead of the tournament, according to white-ball coach Rob Walter.

After overseeing the 3-0 defeat to Pakistan, Walter has been left with an ODI record of two series wins from six but does not think bilateral form accurately reflects what the team is capable of at major tournaments. “I know they’ll shine through when it comes to these world events, these marquee events. The guys tend to step up. They tend to bring their best cricket,” Walter said at the Wanderers. “We’ve seen that for two World Cups in a row.”

In June, South Africa reached the T20 World Cup final with no bilateral series wins from four attempts under Walter and with the entire squad only convening two days before the event started, with players traveling from the IPL. And last November, South Africa reached the ODI World Cup semi-final, with limited ODI game time under their belt. They drew a series against West Indies in March 2023 and then came from 2-0 down to beat Australia 3-2 in September just before the tournament.

This time, they also have fixtures on the eve of the Champions Trophy – a tri-series in Pakistan – but will not be able to have all their first-choice players available as some will be competing in the final stages of the SA20. Walter understands that could pose a challenge.

“The reality is the lead up into the Champions Trophy won’t be anything, like the lead up to the World Cup. That’s the reality of the way the schedule is stacked up. But at the end of the day, I’ve just got to trust in the quality of the players,” he said. “Obviously, the switching in codes will potentially pose a little bit of a challenge to us. But again, it’s not like the guys have not played 50-odd cricket. So I trust that when the time comes, we’ll be there.”

Mindset and sense of occasion aside, South Africa also have personnel questions as they deal with a slew of injured bowlers. Seven of their seamers – Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger and Lizaad Williams are currently injured – and though all but Burger, who has lower back stress fractures, are expected to return this season, there is no telling how many will make it to the Champions Trophy. The problem is compounded by a niggle to Keshav Maharaj, who missed the recent ODI series after picking up a groin strain ahead of the first game, but could return for the Tests. For Walter, the number of players unavailable also means he was hamstrung in selection, which may ease the criticism of his results.

But there is no softener in the batting department, where South Africa have struggled to find someone to fill Quinton de Kock’s role at the top of the order, and collectively underperformed. Heinrich Klaasen was their only batter to score a half-century in the series – and he did it three times – but no-one else scored more than 100 runs across the three matches or got an individual score over 40 which Walter recognised as a concern.

“As a batting unit, we’ve spoken about someone taking pride in getting in and getting a big hundred and to be fair, we just haven’t been able to convert anything into really substantial knocks or partnerships in this series,” he said. “It’s not like we’re unaware. Some of it is down to batting error and others down to bowling quality and we also have to acknowledge that.”

He appeared to back Tony de Zorzi as Temba Bavuma’s opening partner, though there is also the option of Ryan Rickelton.

“If you look at Tony de Zorzi’s knock today (at the Wanderers, where he made 26), he was batting beautifully and then he got a brute of a ball that got him out at the end of the day. How do you assess that and what conversations do you have? I just want him to continue to play like he was playing because he was putting our noses in front up until that point,” Walter said. “These things do happen and ultimately I think it’s important to know that the players themselves want to be better. They want to convert. They want to get big hundreds. It’s not through any lack of want. And again, I have to trust that that conversion will start happening and hopefully sooner rather than later.”

Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram’s form at Nos. 3 and 4 could also come under the microscope. Van der Dussen has not scored a half-century in 10 innings while Markram has one 50-plus score in his last 11 completed outings. South Africa’s over-reliance on Klaasen and David Miller (whose wife Camila is expecting their first child in February which could affect his availability) is clear. But Walter, despite whispers of pressure, does not look too perturbed with current results. He understands white-ball cricket has had to juggle selection with the needs of the Test side, who are one win away from securing a place in the World Test Championship final, and then will shift attention to the SA20, which takes precedence over everything else in the South African summer because of the profits it makes.

By then, Walter is hopeful there will be enough good memories, vibes and form to carry the ODI side through the Champions Trophy where they are grouped with Afghanistan, Australia and England. “As a Proteas family, we’ll focus on these Test matches and getting ourselves to that World Test Championship final. And then obviously all the lads will pretty much be involved in the SA20, which will be highly competitive cricket, albeit in a different format,” he said. “I’m optimistic that when the time comes, we’ll pull together.”