The term ‘Apollo Syndrome’ was coined by management and team building guru Dr Meredith Belbin in 1981 to highlight that a team of highly capable individuals can collectively perform badly. This term was used to describe the Galacticos team of Real Madrid, which in spite of having the best players of their generation in their team, could not produce the results expected of them. If the syndrome is extended to cricket, no other deserves the title more than the South African team of the post-Apartheid era.

Just prior to the Apartheid era, the South Africans had perhaps one of the finest sides in the history of cricket. With the likes of Barry Richards, Mike Procter, Graeme and Peter Pollock, they had inflicted one of the heaviest defeats on the Australians. However, the unstable situation in the country led to serious international repercussions and boycotts, thereby paralysing the prospects of this great cricketing side. It took 21 long years for the apartheid ban to be lifted and by the time the ban was over, a generation had disappeared.

India welcomed the South Africans in a friendship series in 1991 that opened an entire new generation of cricketers waiting for their raw talents to be unleashed on the global stage. The world witnessed a fine new ball bowler in Allan Donald and arguably the greatest fielder of all time, Jonty Rhodes, in a supremely talented South African team. It seemed it was just a matter of time before they would dominate world cricket again.

The World Cup in 1992 was their first big test. Led by Kepler Wessels, the Proteas cruised through to the semifinals. But in one of the most unfortunate events in world sports, rain played spoilsport and they were required to make 22 runs off one ball, thanks to the Duckworth-Lewis rule. This unfortunate incident can be said to have triggered a chain reaction of ill luck and misfortune for the Proteas, which they have not been able to erase till now.

In every World Cup since then, the South Africans have been favourites but surprisingly, could not even make a single final. One Brian Lara innings was enough to send them crashing in the 1996 World Cup. Perhaps the most dramatic of performances came in the 1999 World Cup. In what many analysts call the greatest World Cup match ever played, the South Africans needed one run off four balls but ended up a losing side due to a horrendous mix-up between Lance Klusener and Allan Donald. Even more comical was the 2003 World Cup when they miscalculated their target and lost out by one run.

The string of misfortunes has continued with the Proteas even in the T-20 World Cup this year. Having not lost even a single match prior to the semifinals, they went on to find Shahid Afridi as their latest harbinger of misfortune. Afridi added salt in the wounds of a severely wounded nation by batting and bowling out of his skins and taking Pakistan to a shocking win. All these incidents have culminated in giving this hugely talented team a title which they now desperately want to shed off — ‘Chokers’.

The Apartheid era not only took away one glorious generation, it left behind an impending ill-luck which has been a constant companion like a shadow. No one knows when the Proteas can come out of this jinx. It is immensely unfortunate that such a talented team has been consistently unfortunate at the biggest stage for the last two decades. Even the most pragmatic of persons can’t help but think that this team needs a divine intervention.

The Proteas are an interesting case study lending credence to Dr Belbin’s theory that a team needs something more than talented individuals to excel at the highest level. Even a group of ordinary people can form a brilliant team if they have that magic potion which is the prerequisite for success in any team work. The South Africans need to discover that magic potion now, else they might also suffer the fate of the great Boston Red Sox team which took 86 years to relieve itself from ‘The Curse of the Bambino’ they suffered by selling the great Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. The only difference will be that this time the name will be slightly different — ‘The curse of the Apartheid’.

Deepanjan Deb