Low-profile Rob Walter leads South Africa to promised land of World Cup final

After years of high-profile coaches, it is the relatively unknown Rob Walter who stands on the brink of South African cricket history as he prepares his side for their first-ever World Cup final.

The Proteas booked their place in the T20 final with a brutal defenestration of Afghanistan and will now face India in Barbados on Saturday.

Walter is the antithesis of that 'high profile' coach -- he was never a star player, he stays resolutely grounded in interviews and if he is prone to outbursts of raw emotion he does not put them on public display.

Just one journalist attended his press conference for that semi-final.

The previous 12 South African white-ball coaches include such storied names as Mike Procter, Bob Woolmer and Mark Boucher and yet it is the 48-year-old Walter who has succeeded in shaking off the "choker" tag that dogged a side that could reach semi-finals but no further.

Walter said he believed the team had already overcome their biggest psychological hurdle.

“Getting through the semi-final, not having done that before, came with its own pressure," he told AFP.

"Even against the West Indies (in a crucial Super Eight match), that was effectively a quarter-final.

"Now that they've done that I'm just hoping the guys will go out, play freely and express themselves."

If they do that successfully it will be a significant triumph for Walter, whose playing career peaked at schoolboy provincial level and who had only been involved in coaching at age group level before becoming South Africa's strength and conditioning coach in 2009, a position he held in 2013.

The recommendation of previous national coach Gary Kirsten helped Walter land a job as head coach of the Titans, South Africa’s most successful franchise.