Injuries, fixtures and no plan B.......What has gone wrong for South Africa?

Defeats in their opening two matches leave The Proteas on the brink of exiting the World Cup ahead of facing much-fancied India

Injury crisis

The injury curse has hit South Africa with a vengeance. Even before their provisional squad was announced, both Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn had withdrawn from the Indian Premier League with back and shoulder problems.

Anrich Nortje pulled out of the initial squad with a fractured hand and was replaced by Chris Morris, while before The Proteas even left for England it was confirmed Steyn would miss the opening two games of the tournament.

In the defeat to England, Hashim Amla was rattled by a Jofra Archer bouncer and was forced off the field. Though he returned, he missed the clash with Bangladesh as a precaution.

While the 36-year-old will return to face India on Wednesday, Steyn has withdrawn from the tournament altogether after suffering a second shoulder problem. Beuran Hendricks comes in but he will not arrive in time to face the Indians.

While there is a degree of bad luck to some of the injuries they have suffered - Amla and Nortje in particular - a swifter decision could have been made on Steyn, whose injured history suggested he was a major doubt to feature at any stage of the competition.

^{Duminy's role appears undefined in the South Africa team}

Lack of a plan B

Faf Du Plessis admitted after the 21-defeat to Bangladesh that the ideal scenario was to have all of their premier fast bowlers working in tandem, but there doesn't appear to have been a strategy in the event of that not being possible.

The skipper has also conceded that once you scratch below the surface there is little in the way of quality.

South Africa's allrounders have therefore been thrust into positions they don't look comfortable in. Andile Phehlukwayo bowled 10 overs against Bangladesh having only taken the ball for eight against England, while Aiden Markram also had his workload increased.

Chris Morris was bowled out and he looked like cannon-fodder during the back end of The Tigers' innings. And when Rabada is not at his best, this combination makes them a distinctly average international outfit.

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Batsman failing to build on starts

Of the 21 innings completed by South Africa's batsman during this tournament, nine of the scores have been between 23 and 68 with all of the top six at some stage or another getting a start in a match.

Quinton de Kock, Du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen have all made half-centuries yet none have gone on to contribute a massive score. It has shifted the pressure onto the allrounders, who as previously mentioned don't appear capable of filling positions meant for specialists.

David Miller's role against Bangladesh is a good case in point. The 29-year-old came in at four with South Africa 147 for 3 and looked like he had a scrambled mind from the outset. Miller should be coming to the crease to finish an innings off but instead, he was asked to rebuild it, before an inevitable leading edge had him caught at backward point.

There have also been questions over JP Duminy's role in the team. Granted, he scored a credible 45 against Bangladesh but he doesn't quite possess the explosive instincts of a natural No.6, and certainly of one able to take the game away from an opponent.

In short, this is an unbalanced squad with too many jack-of-all-trades players filling specialist roles. And when your star players aren't playing out of their skin, the ramifications are rather large.

^{Ngidi could miss the next two games after getting injured against Bangladesh}

Unbalanced fixture schedule

To compound their injury problems and total loss of form, South Africa have barely had an opportunity to play themselves into the tournament thanks to a nightmare fixture schedule.

The four-time semi-finalists have their opening three games in the space of the first seven days of the tournament, meaning injuries and loss of confidence has a direct knock-on effect.

Bangladesh looked far fresher and played with a degree of freedom in their opener, while South Africa resisted from playing their natural game, fearing what a second straight defeat would do to their campaign. Expect the same when India come to town.

By the time Virat Kohli's side play their first match five of their rivals will have already played twice, including opponents South Africa. The BCCI asked the ICC to allow them extra time to prepare after the IPL, a request which was naturally accepted, leading to the ridiculous fixture scheduling.

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