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Pat Cummins' sharp retort to facing South Africa in WTC final: ‘Nice to see something different to AUS-IND clash’
Here's what Australia captain Pat Cummins had to say about facing South Africa in the World Test Championship final.
Pat Cummins-led Australia are gearing up to face South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Lord's Cricket Ground. Ahead of the marquee contest, Cummins said it feels “nice and different” to see something other than yet another Australia-India final. The Australia pacer said that he is not at all surprised to see the Proteas making their way to the WTC final.
Australia, the defending WTC champions, are the favourites for the summit clash, but one cannot count out South Africa, as the latter has a formidable pace attack.
However, if one is to compare man-to-man then Australia are the clear favourites looking at the experience of both the teams. Pat Cummins still remains wary of the Proteas challenge and is not willing to take the Temba Bavuma-led side lightly.
“In some ways you expect India to be around. England have been quite strong at home and New Zealand always seem to get to finals. But the same case could be made for South Africa in ICC events," Cummins told the Guardian.
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“We just don’t see a lot of them in Test cricket but it’s nice and different to an Australia-India final,” he added.
Cummins brushes aside South Africa's critics
Ever since South Africa reached the WTC final, critics have argued about how Bavuma and co. made the trip to the summit clash on the back of victories in a two-Test series and how the Proteas didn't play against the top teams such as Australia, England, and India in the WTC 2023-2025 cycle.
However, Cummins brushed aside this theory saying nobody can fault South Africa for having a “different route” to the final.
“You can only beat who you come up against. Our route to the final was pretty tough but I don’t blame South Africa for having a different route,” he said.
It has been more than three months since both Australia and South Africa played a Test match. How both teams perform at Lord's, needs to be seen but one expects a cracking contest in front of the sold out stadium.
“It’s hard to say because there are so many unknowns. We haven’t played them much but you’ve got to be really well balanced to make the final. Their bowling has always stood out and it’s no different now," said Cummins.
“Keshav Maharaj is a really solid spinner and they’ve always got plenty of quick bowlers who pose a challenge,” he added.
