Former head coach Graham Ford gives Graeme Smith's team a clean chit
Graham Ford knows a thing or two about being a part of a South African dressing room that deals with being tagged as chokers. He was assistant coach during the Edgbaston semi-final against Australia at the 1999 World Cup, after which he took over as head coach.
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On Saturday, the tag came back to haunt South Africa as they stumbled from 120-3 to 189 all out, handing India an astonishing one-run win at Wanderers. However, Ford reckons the current side, under the astute leadership of Graeme Smith doesn't warrant the tag, and wouldn't be psychologically distraught like the teams of the past.
Ford, who is credited for guiding a host of top-class cricketers like Shaun Pollock, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener and Neil Johnson, reckons there was nothing psychological about South Africa's series of chokes in the last decade-and-a-half: "There's nothing psychological to it. It's unfair to drag the current players and call them chokers.
"Most of them were kids when we played the 1999 World Cup semi-final. Obviously, the tag will follow the team because of the history, but most of those so-called chokes were in the 90s and early 2000s.
"In the last five years or so, Smith has taken the side to victories from impossible situations. If anything, such a loss will only toughen the side."
Ford pointed out that Smith had learnt a lot from watching previous South African teams lose from close situations. "He has learnt it the hard way, having made mistakes as a young captain, and now maturing into a fine leader," he said.
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