Proteas bowler Ottniel Baartman on Thursday revealed that his South African teammates took their defeat to India in the T20 World Cup final particularly hard.
Baartman was speaking on his return to South Africa, at the Cricket South Africa offices in Johannesburg.
South Africa were beaten by seven runs by India in the trophy match in Bridgetown over the weekend.
Baartman did not make the side for the semi-final or final, but said it was plain to see how much it meant to the Proteas.
Proteas bowler Ottniel Baartman on Thursday revealed that his South African teammates took their defeat to India in the T20 World Cup final particularly hard.
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‘They really wanted to win a World Cup’
“It was disappointing to lose the final. The guys were devastated. They really wanted to win a World Cup and it didn’t happen,” said Baartman.
“Apart from that, the way the guys played throughout the whole World Cup was exceptional — the way we managed to win by small margins in every game. We play as a collective, win as a collective and lose as a collective.”
Baartman played five games at the World Cup, with his last coming against England in their penultimate Super Eight match. Though he turned in some impressive displays at the tournament, his final over against England went for 21 as he bowled five full tosses in six balls.
It meant he did not feature again for the Proteas, but with best figures of 4/11 and three other strong performances Baartman was pleased with his first World Cup.
“For me it was a good World Cup. We knew it was going to be a challenge on the wickets in New York. When we moved on from there, we knew spin was going to come on more.”
In fact, at the age of 31 Baartman took his international bow relatively late in his career as he made his Proteas debut in their warm-up series against the West Indies in May.
Baartman explained what it was like to begin his international career at a later stage than most of his peers.
“We’re always learning. People say age is just a number but you still need to do the hard yards. It can actually put you in a different mindset as well. For me it’s just about focussing on the now. That means playing well for your domestic team and then hopefully getting another start for the Proteas somewhere.
“You play with a world class team, with guys like KG [Kagiso Rabada]. You try to stay together and form a relationship. You try to understand the guys, and for me it was about seeing how these guys go about their plans. I also had to reinvent my game, as you can’t just focus on one team.”