New Delhi, Oct 26 — Former South African all-rounder Lance Klusener believes the ability to score consistently throughout the tournament will be decisive in determining South Africa’s prospects at the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup, with the co-hosts aiming to turn the advantage of playing at home into a sustained challenge for the title.
South Africa will jointly host the tournament with Zimbabwe and Namibia, presenting an opportunity for the region to stage one of cricket’s biggest events while providing the Proteas with another chance to pursue a major global trophy.
Klusener, currently the head coach of the Arabian Aces in the Abu Dhabi T10 League, spoke to IANS on the sidelines of the tournament about the demands of competing at home and the potential long-term benefits for African cricket.
The former international said that while home support could provide an important boost, the fundamentals of winning a World Cup remained unchanged. Teams must be able to build competitive totals consistently and chase challenging scores across the tournament rather than depend on isolated performances.
The former international said that while home support could provide an important boost, the fundamentals of winning a World Cup remained unchanged. Teams must be able to build competitive totals consistently and chase challenging scores across the tournament rather than depe
“Obviously, scoring enough runs consistently throughout the tournament is something which is going to be a challenge, not just for South Africa, but for any other team as well that will be hoping to challenge. So the team that can consistently put runs on the board or chase sizeable totals is going to have an opportunity there. That would be something that as a group, as a South African group, they would need to look at.
“There are pressures. There’s pressures anywhere in a big ICC tournament, whether you’re playing it at home or whether you’re playing it away. So that’s just a given. It’s just about making sure that we embrace stadiums that are full of our own supporters, which is something that a home World Cup brings,” Klusener said.
Klusener acknowledged that South Africa would carry the expectations of a home crowd but said the team should view that support as an opportunity rather than an additional burden. With the tournament bringing international cricket to venues across the three host countries, he believes the occasion could provide the Proteas with the setting to achieve a long-awaited breakthrough.
“We’re excited to host that competition again. And yeah, it is time that South Africa delivered on the big stage, on that big ICC stage again. And we’re looking forward to hopefully being able to fulfil those dreams of the players and the nation at home. We’ve done it in rugby. And it would be just an icing on the top if we get that opportunity to be able to do that at home from a cricketing point of view,” he stated.
His reference to South Africa’s success in rugby captures the broader ambition surrounding the tournament: to convert the enthusiasm generated by a major home sporting event into a defining achievement for the national cricket team. However, Klusener believes the significance of the 2027 World Cup will extend beyond South Africa’s campaign.
With Zimbabwe and Namibia also involved in hosting the competition, the event offers an opportunity to bring more spectators into stadiums, strengthen interest in the sport and generate resources that could benefit cricket development across the region.
“Any World Cup does that for wherever it’s played. It generates not only interest but income as well, which hopefully can be ploughed back into those domestic competitions. So, that’s a huge advantage. And as a region, we’re looking forward to that. One of the important things is getting your younger children to come and experience cricket live. And hopefully one day, you know, maybe just lighting that fire that would maybe produce somebody on the big stage as time goes on,” he mentioned.