Boucher bullish and pragmatic as World Cup qualification hopes nosedive: 'We need to man-up'

Play what's in front of you and "man-up".

That's the cocktail Proteas mentor Mark Boucher believes his troops need to mix if they are to qualify automatically for next year's 50-over World Cup in India.

South Africa's mission in that regard suffered a severe blow on Tuesday after their 7-wicket loss to selfsame India not only saw them lose the ODI series 1-2, but also saw them drop vital Super League points - the mechanism for determining the eight teams booking their ticket for the showpiece.

As it stands, the Proteas are languishing in 11th place on that log and need to win their five remaining ODIs - three against England and two against Netherlands - to give themselves the best chance of avoiding having to travel to Zimbabwe in mid-2023 for the qualifying tournament.

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"The reason why we're in this situation is because we haven't always had continuity within our ODI setup. There have been various reasons for that,  players leaving for IPL and Covid, for example. There has been some inconsistencies that have emerged and what we've seen now," said Boucher, who won't be saddled with that headache anymore because he's bowing out after the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

"But we know what is required. The players know what needs to happen come January against England and also against the Netherlands. We've got to win those games.

"And if we don't, we just have to accept that we need to go to Zimbabwe and qualify for the World Cup. We understand the situation we're in and we'll just have to man-up and face it when it comes our way."

Ironically, it was the pressure of improving that log placing that, Boucher