PRETORIA, South Africa, (Reuters) – South Africa do  not deserve to go into next year’s World Cup with a reputation  for choking, fast bowler Dale Steyn told Reuters yesterday.

South Africa have exited the 50-over showpiece tournament in  three semi-finals, a quarter-final and in the first round of the  2003 event they hosted. In May, they were knocked out of the ICC  World Twenty20 in the West Indies in the second group stage  despite being one of the favourites.

They are still licking their wounds from that disappointment  and are attending a conditioning camp at Pretoria University’s  high performance centre but Steyn said the ‘chokers’ tag struck  a nerve because it was unfair on a side with fresh blood in it.

“For me, to be labelled as ‘chokers’ really sucks,” he told  Reuters.

“This team is made up of a lot of young guys who will play  for South Africa for a long time. Why are we being called  chokers, a lot of us have never been to a World Cup before!

“I’ve played in two T20 World Cups but there was hardly a  year between them and you could hardly pick yourself up from the  last one. It was extremely disappointing what happened in the  West Indies, but we have another opportunity at the end of this  season and hopefully we can get this monkey off our back.”

The world’s number one ranked fast bowler in test cricket  said his team were getting themselves sharp for the World Cup in  India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, playing just 13 one-day  internationals before their opening match on Feb. 24 against  West Indies in Delhi.

Their commitments before the World Cup are three one-dayers  against Zimbabwe, five ODIs and two tests against Pakistan in  Dubai and three tests and five ODIs at home against India.

“With the World Cup just around the corner, we need to have  the perfect side to play in those conditions, players that will  fit like a glove,” said Steyn.

“If you ask me one year from now what was the highlight of  the season, whether it’s beating India at home in a test series  or the World Cup, let’s be honest, we want to bring that trophy  back with us.”