Proteas backed for T20 World Cup success in India, Sri Lanka

The men’s national cricket team will jet out of the country this Sunday and begin their World Cup campaign on Monday February 9 against Canada.  

Smith, who captained South Africa in all three formats, feels the Proteas can get to another final and even win the title, if they get their combinations right.

"When I look at the team, certainly I believe going to the world cup that I would have an expectation that they're going to do really well," said Smith.

"I think there's lots of fire power, match winners and I think it's going to be interesting to see what combinations Shukri [Conrad] and team come up with going into the tournament.

"I think if they can get those combinations right and some of the bowlers really do click because the grounds in India can be challenging to defend with the ball, and certainly if the wickets play flat your bowlers are going to be tested.

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"So I think the bowling combinations are going to be interesting to see and, certainly, I believe there's enough in that squad to be able to go deep into the tournament."

Smith, who played 33 T20 International matches for South Africa from 2005 to 2011, believes the Proteas will have no problems with the conditions in the sub-continent due to the players’ exposure in tours as well as the IPL. 

"Ja, look, I think the exposure to the sub-continent now that the players get is extremely different – they spend an immense amount of time in the sub-continent through IPL or touring," he added.

"So their exposure to the conditions is certainly not foreign to any of these players that spent, probably I'd say, years of their life now playing cricket in the sub-continent."