Faf turning to ‘Plan B’

South Africa need a new strategy after an abysmal start to the World Cup because ‘Plan A’ has already been ruined by injuries to their pace attack, captain Faf Du Plessis has said.

Veteran quick Dale Steyn missed the first two matches with a shoulder injury and South Africa were duly thumped by hosts England in their tournament opener before losing to unfancied Bangladesh at the Oval on Sunday.

They suffered another serious setback against Bangladesh when pace bowler Lungi Ngidi went off with a hamstring injury early on and Du Plessis said South Africa would only cope if they changed tactics in their remaining games.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” the 34-year-old told reporters. “Our plan in both the England game and (the Bangladesh) game was to try and make sure we target them with aggressive bowling.

India captain Virat Kohli will be looking to lead his side when they start their World Cup campaign on Wednesday. However, the star batsman will be well aware that they will be up against a hungry South Africa, who -- after two losses to start their campaign -- will be desperate for a win. PHOTO: AFP

“Plan A is gone because Plan A was those main bowlers playing together and they haven’t played a game together on this tour.

“So now we have to really look at what we can do to try to be effective -- is it playing all-rounders together, do we play two spinners? Now it’s reshuffling all our cards to see how best we can deal with it.”

Steyn is expected to be fit for Wednesday’s game against India and Du Plessis said every member of the squad needed to start living up to their potential.

“I have to believe that we can still win the World Cup,” he added. “I won’t be South African if I said no.

“Every single player in our dressing room is not playing to their full potential and that’s why we’re not putting the performances in. As soon as that starts happening, then those things will change. We’re playing a strong team in India, and as a team, we know we’re not good enough at the moment and we have to turn it around.”

Meanwhile, pacer Andile Phehlukwayo said South Africa’s dismal start to the World Cup does not have to be fatal to their hopes of winning the tournament.

“There have been some bad days in my career. I’ve learned, and the team has learned, that it is not the end of the world,” Phehlukwayo told reporters.

“We can always bounce back. We are a team that bounces back from situations and we will definitely do it again.

“We haven’t had a good start but this is a big tournament and anyone can beat anyone on any given day,” he concluded.