It's important to stay strong despite injuries, says Faf du Plessis

On the eve of India-South Africa's World Cup match, Proteas skipper Faf Du Plessis on Tuesday said the team needs to "stay strong despite the injury woes" that have bogged down the side. On Tuesday, Dale Steyn was ruled out of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and earlier, Lungi Ngidi was ruled out for the clash against India due to a hamstring injury.

"Obviously lots of things are happening and there are a lot of injuries. So it's important to stay strong because a lot has happened. We are trying to showcase the fighting spirit and be strong. It's important to stay positive and be motivated at a time like this," Du Plessis said at the pre-match press conference. "Injuries absolutely should not be the part of team in a tournament like this I have said many times that x-factor of team would be bowling but now it's hard to understand at the moment Lundgi and Dale are not in the field so tough we haven't had our strongest playing eleven on the field yet its really challenging..."

Du Plessis said that the match against India would be a tough one and he acknowledged that the side would be required to be at their best to outclass the Men in Blue. "It will be quite difficult to start tomorrow. There are no easy games in the World Cup as we have seen Bangladesh playing some really good cricket. I think we would need to be at our best tomorrow," Du Plessis said.

"Winning or losing does not matter, we have the mindset to get into the semifinals. Unfortunately, we did not start well but it's just our skills that need to get updated," he added. Du Plessis said that the bowling will be a big concern for the team as now there are just 14 players to pick from. Steyn and Ngidi were the lynchpins of the team's bowling attack and their absence will be a big miss for the team.

"I think bowling is now a big concern for the team. I will have to look into it, there are only 14 players to pick from now so there are not a lot of options in terms of the bowling attack," Du Plessis said. South Africa lost their opening two matches against England and Bangladesh, however, the Proteas skipper said that it is very important for the team to stay calm ahead of the World Cup clash against India.

"You need to manage people's confidence because that's the thing specifically that needs to be managed. We are professional cricketers we want to do well, we want to win the games. It's important to stay calm, stay focused and keep pushing. we are playing against the world no 2 team tomorrow, that's gonna be a huge challenge for us but something we always believed is to keep fighting and hopefully we will get the good result he," he added. South Africa takes on India in the World Cup match on June 5 at Southampton. (ANI)

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