I believe the current Proteas group is the best-placed team to win the T20 World Cup in 2026. And not because they've discovered some mystical way to overcome 'choking'. They're best placed because they've built a system in their team that makes them hard to break.

I keep going back to a moment from the Proteas' 2024 T20 final against India in Barbados - it is hard not to, even when you don't want to.

The dugout at the Kensington Oval is a small, tight space tucked right beside the field. The Proteas were right beside the Indian team, so much so that the Indian guys literally had to walk in front of them to get to their seats.

We were chasing a decent enough Indian total in the Proteas' first proper white-ball final. I was there in the role of performance coach for the Rob Walter-led Proteas.

It was time for the guys to get on with it. Aiden Markram lost his wicket early. Reeza Hendricks followed. Then Tristan Stubbs came in at four and played a strong sweep against Axar Patel, and I remember thinking: okay, that's good. Axar is dangerous, and Stubbs has played with and against him for a while in the IPL.

I was sitting next to Heinrich Klaasen. David Miller was on his other side. And for a long stretch we were just chatting quietly. A very normal conversation between professionals while the innings unfolded.

We spoke at times about...