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Cape Town - Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada admitted that South Africa's position on the ICC World Test Championship "looks quite bad."
The Proteas are currently pointless in the latest ICC World Test Championship standings alongside the West Indies and Bangladesh.
India lead the championship with 360 points, which included their 3-0 whitewash over the Proteas in October.
Rabada, who is currently gearing up for the first of three Test matches against England, admitted that South Africa's position on the ICC standings has put pressure on the team.
"The ICC World Test Championship can put unnecessary pressure on us right now," said Rabada at Centurion on Thursday.
"I don't think we should really be looking at that. Yes we don't have any points and it does look quite bad but I think that if we can just focus on what we want to do that should look after itself."
Rabada admitted that the Proteas need to play catch up but that the Proteas need to focus on their performance on the field.
"We haven't really been thinking about it but when you do think about where we are on the table, it can get you in a mindset where you feel that we need to catch up on a lot of things," he said.
"At the moment, we just need to focus on the product and the by product will look after itself."
The top two teams at the end of the World Test Championship league will play the final in England in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test champions.
Latest ICC World Test Championship standings:
1. India (Played 7, Won 7) - 360 points
2. Australia (Played 8, Won 5, Drawn 1, Lost 2) - 216
3. Sri Lanka (Played 3, Won 1, Drawn 1, Lost 1) - 80
4. New Zealand (Played 3, Won 1, Lost 2) - 60
5. England (Played 5, Won 2, Drawn 1, Lost 2) - 56
6. Pakistan (Played 3, Drawn 1, Lost 2) - 20
7. West Indies (Played 2, Lost 2) - 0
8. Bangladesh (Played 2, Lost 2) - 0
9. South Africa (Played 3, Lost 3) - 0
The Proteas take on England in the first Test at Centurion on Boxing Day with the first ball due to be delivered at 10:00.
Proteas Test squad:
Faf du Plessis (Titans, captain), Temba Bavuma (Lions), Quinton de Kock (Titans), Dean Elgar (Titans), Beuran Hendricks (Lions), Keshav Maharaj (Dolphins), Pieter Malan (Cape Cobras), Aiden Markram (Titans), Zubayr Hamza (Cape Cobras), Anrich Nortje (Warriors), Dane Paterson (Cape Cobras), Andile Phehlukwayo (Dolphins), Vernon Philander (Cape Cobras), Dwaine Pretorius (Lions), Kagiso Rabada (Lions), Rudi Second (Warriors), Rassie van der Dussen (Lions)
- Compiled by Lynn Butler
