South Africa are one of the dark horses to win the Cricket World Cup in India this Autumn.

The Proteas have never lifted the trophy and are yet to even appear in a final, having reached the last four in 1992, 1999 and 2011 before being eliminated.

But Temba Bavuma's talented side have all the tools necessary to shed the bottlers tag and write themselves into the history books.

And they will arrive in India on the back of a thrilling 3-2 series victory over Australia after trailing 2-0.

Squad

South Africa's 15-player World Cup squad: Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.

Fixtures

October 7, 9.30am: Sri Lanka (Dehli)

October 12, 9.30am: Australia (Lucknow)

October 17, 9.30am: Netherlands (Dharamshala)

October 21, 9.30am: England (Mumbai)

October 24, 9.30am: Bangladesh (Mumbai)

October 27, 9.30am: Pakistan (Chennai)

November 1, 8.30am: New Zealand (Pune)

November 5, 8.30am: India (Kolkata)

November 10, 8.30am: Afghanistan (Ahmedabad)

The skipper

The ODI format is where South Africa captain Bavuma excels with the bat.

His Test career has so far yielded only two centuries and an average of 35.25 — but he has reached three figures on four occasions in the 50-over arena and averages a hugely impressive 54.68.

A multifaceted batter who can hit boundaries for fun and also rebuild an innings when wickets around him tumble, Bavuma is the man who can set the platform for big hitters Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller to wreak havoc towards the back end.

Bavuma showed off his skills as a leader in last month's series victory over Australia too, which he believes was the perfect preparation for the World Cup.

The 33-year-old said: "Even if we have our backs on the wall, we have the team to bounce back. We've created a nice momentum with World Cup in a couple of weeks.

"I was talking to the bowlers and they said it was the best kind of preparation that we can have, bowling in pressure situations."

One to watch: Gerald Coetzee

Anrich Nortje's absence through injury means Gerald Coetzee may take on the role as South Africa's out-and-out paceman in support of new-ball pair Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.

Still just 22, the right-arm quick is at the very start of his international career but has already shown promising signs in all three formats.

Coetzee is capable of bowling upwards of 90mph and has claimed 11 wickets in his six ODI appearances at a decent average of 29.45. 

But due to the fact he is still mastering his craft, the Proteas starlet can leak runs when straining to bowl as fast as possible — and his economy rate of 6.82 will have to improve on the World Cup stage.