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Temba Bavuma’s South African team became the first team to qualify for the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) final. with a thrilling two-wicket win over Pakistan in Centurion last year. Later, Australia beat India in the home Test series to join South Africa in the 2025 WTC Final in London.
After finishing fifth in the first cycle of the WTC, South Africa made a strong comeback in the 2021-2023 cycle, but failed to reach the summit clash as their journey ended in third place.
South Africa has secured a place at the 2025 WTC Final with 7 straight wins
However, the Proteas have now earned a place in the 2025 WTC Final with seven straight wins. But some fans and cricket experts, particularly former England cricketers, question whether South Africa really deserve to be in the final.
In fact, the South African side played relatively few matches in the 2023-25 WTC cycle—only 11 Tests, while other teams such as England (22), India (18) and Australia (16) played more matches.
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Despite playing fewer Tests, South Africa still managed to top the table with a scoring percentage of 66.67%. But their qualification drew criticism, with many questioning the Proteas’ place in the 2025 WTC Finals, while some felt playing against a lower-ranked side had helped them reach the top-flight clash.
Temba Bavuma is undeterred by criticism of South Africa’s qualification for the 2025 WTC finals.
However, Temba Bavuma remains indifferent despite the criticism. South African captain Temba Bavuma said their place in the final was the only and best answer, ignoring the skeptics. South Africa proved their worth by securing first place and Bavuma noted that this is the only answer the critics are getting now.
Temba Bavuma was quoted in the Hindustan Times as saying, “No, I wouldn’t want to answer that. We are in the final; that’s the only answer I have.”
The South African captain has called for a more balanced and competitive series in the World Test Championship (WTC) format. Bavuma wants all teams to play at least a three-game series. Temba Bavuma remarked, “Yes please. We would love to play more in South Africa. We wish we could test our skills a lot more. We would also like to test our mettle a lot more.”
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Temba Bavuma calls for a three-match Test series to determine the best team
Reflecting on South Africa’s recent two-match series with India, he felt it did not determine a truly superior team. The skipper added: “I’m thinking of the series in India that we played here at home, which ended 1-1. It was only a two game series and I think the end of that series was a bit of an anticlimax. You know, you always play to know who is the best. And you somehow didn’t know who it was or who was the best.”
Bavuma also pointed out the difference in the number of Tests played by the various teams, with England playing far more than South Africa, as he believes everyone deserves the chance to test with the best. He signed off saying, “Well yes, maybe I can introduce those minimum amounts of tests. I think England played about 22 Tests last year. We played 12; it is almost 50 percent. So, you know, hopefully you really don’t have those kinds of disparities.”
