'Disappointed' Kirsten says Proteas deserves 'choker' tag after CT crash-out

Outgoing South Africa cricket coach Gary Kirsten has admitted that his team deserved the tag of 'chokers' after South Africa crashed to a seven-wicket defeat by England in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final on Wednesday.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, it is the first time that a South African coach had publicly accepted what is widely believed in the rest of the cricket world that the Proteas faltered in crucial games.

Kirsten, who coached India to victory in the 2011 World Cup before moving back to South Africa, said that South Africa needed to accept that they 'choked' again in the 'one-sided' semi-finals at The Oval, which lifted England into their second Champions Trophy final.

Stating that the team has let themselves down, Kirsten further said that he had expected

his team to perform better in the semi-final, adding that to lose despite having substantial talent in their batting line-up is very disappointing.

According to Kirsten, there has been an inconsistency in their game, which especially gets exposed in big tournaments like the Champions Trophy, although he added that he also shared part of the blame.

Kirsten further said that as the team has shown that it has not improved, a question mark has fallen over his coaching skill, for which, he added, he might have taken a good decision to leave.

South Africa, top-ranked in Tests and formidable opponents in world cricket, have struggled to get past the semi-final stage in major one-day tournaments since winning the inaugural version of the Champions Trophy in Bangladesh in 1998, the report added.