AB de Villiers throws down gauntlet for South Africa's T20 World Cup quest in four-word 'open letter'

South Africa are one of two teams to still remain unbeaten in the 2024 T20 World Cup, with the other being India, and will continue their quest to end their dry run in major trophies when they face a surging Afghanistan in the semifinal on Wednesday (Thursday morning in India). South Africa topped Group 2 of the the Super Eight, having beaten England, the West Indies and the USA to progress to the semifinals.

Former captain and batting great AB de Villiers has been cheering the team along on his social media accounts and put up an ‘open letter’ for the team on his X account. "OPEN LETTER TO THE PROTEAS:" he said in his first post and then added a second on the threat in which he said: "Bring it home lads."

South Africa's past demons in major tournaments

De Villiers has first-hand experience of South Africa's troubles in major tournaments. While the team has widely been recognised as the best in the world at various points of its history since South Africa were readmitted to international cricket in 1991, they have failed to win an ODI or T20I World Cup.

De Villiers was captain when South Africa lost the semifinal of the 2015 World Cup by a whisker against New Zealand. The team was widely rated as the best in the tournament with De Villiers leading a star-studded team that included the likes of Dale Steyn, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Vernon Philander, Quinton de Kock and David Miller among others.

South Africa have often faltered over the course of nearly every match in this T20 World Cup but they have come on top in the clutch moments every time, something they have been unable to do in past tournaments. "If you look at previous World Cups, the small moments, we haven't really won," said senior spinner Keshav Maharaj.

"It's good to see that all the games have come really close and we've found a way, so it's building the character within the team. It prepares us for certain opportunities that we could get and cross over the line in those small moments. These are things that we've never done before. So, it's good to see us getting into that," he said.