South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad has stated that the team’s triumph in the World Test Championship final shows that they are as good as any team in the world in the longest format of the game even if they may not have the financial might. South Africa beat defending champions Australia by six wickets at a time when their Test future was becoming a topic of conversation.
“If you have a Test team that is strong and plays regularly, that has spin-offs for the other formats,” Conrad told reporters. “When you have a good test team, you’ll have good teams in (white ball cricket) because a good player is a good player.”
South Africa were considered the underdogs ahead of the final, largely due to Australia’s pedigree to win big titles and their own rather infamous record in big matches of tournaments. Their victory ended a nearly three-decade trophy drought despite the country producing some all-time greats in the intervening period.
“We don’t feel like underdogs and we believe we are one of the top teams in the world,” said Conrad. “We may not have played Australia and England in the league phase (of the World Test Championship) but we played Australia in the final and would not have had it any other way.
“We feel we belong at the main table. (Being underdogs) was never a conversation in our team meetings. Everyone dubbed Australia as favourites, perhaps on the back of their experience more than anything else. But we create our own reality and are the test champions now,” he said.
The Cape Town international airport was packed to the rafters for three tiers as Temba Bavuma’s Proteas landed home after winning the World Test Championship. In a chaotic reception, the trophy-winning South Africans were stopped every few metres as Marco Jansen signed every single autograph request and ‘OH Temba Bavuma’ choruses rung with the whole airport joining in after the cricket team broke the dark spell of 27 years.
