South Africa’s captain, Temba Bavuma, believes winning the World Test Championship (WTC) would undoubtedly be the pinnacle of his illustrious career.
Having had several close calls in ICC events that ultimately ended in disappointment, most notably the 2024 T20 World Cup final where South Africa lost to India, there is a genuine belief that this Proteas side has the potential to win the World Test Championship.
That belief is further strengthened by the path South Africa took to reach the final. They ended as the top-ranked team in the current World Test Championship cycle. The Proteas accomplished this by winning their last few series consecutively, including victories against Bangladesh away and defeating the touring Sri Lanka and Pakistan sides.
Traditionally, South Africa has reached greater heights in Test cricket, most notably winning the ICC Test mace as the number one ranked team with their series victory over hosts England in 2012.
That’s also excluding their Test series wins over host Australia in 2008/2009, 2012/2013, and 2016.
Bavuma's journey: Striving for new milestones as Proteas on verge of history
Bavuma was still a young player rising up the Proteas ranks, but made some key contributions in that 2016 series against Australia with two half-centuries batting in the middle order.
Now as an established leader and an elder statesman in the side, Bavuma, who will be 35 by the time he walks out at the home of cricket, is convinced it would be the pinnacle of his cricket journey.
“Yeah, [winning it will] probably be the biggest thing in my career. I’ve been captain now since 2021, 2022, or something like that. There have been good moments, there have been tough moments,” Bavuma told SportsBoom.co.za in an exclusive interview.
“And I think this would be the cherry on top. I think it would make it would put value in everything that I've gone through, what we've gone through as a team."
“As a team, we've come very close on a couple of occasions now. I think now is another opportunity for us to really go for it and grab the bull by the horn. It would be great for me. I'm not desperate about it, but I mean, myself and the team will put our best foot forward to make sure that we end up on the right side of the result.”
Proteas gear up for thrilling Australia clash at Iconic Lord’s
For now though, there is still much preparation ahead for the Proteas before they will be ready to face their old foes.
“At the moment it's still excitement. I think just the prospect of coming up against Australia, the prospect of being in the final, the prospect of playing at Lord’s, I think all those feel-good emotions at the moment. Closer to the time, we'll start dealing with the nerves and everything that comes with the occasion."
“I mean, plans, conversations have already started happening, so we're trying to be as prepared as we can, considering everything, but yeah, a lot of excitement at this point.”
It’s also been eight years since Bavuma played at Lord’s, and he will be looking to produce similar results or better after he scored 59 and 21 in a series that did not go South Africa’s way as they lost 3-1.
“Yeah, that's a major part of that excitement. The first and last time I played there was the 2017 England Series. I got a 50 there. But yeah, hopefully I can get a little bit more than what I got then, and just enjoying the tradition and spectacle that it is being at Lord’s."