Proteas in 2024: From T20 Focus to WTC Final Contenders

Kolkata: Despite South Africa cementing their spot in the World Test Championship final, their performance may not have made a huge impact. With none of their batters ranking among the top 35 Test run-scorers in this cycle and Kagiso Rabada not being among the top-10 wicket-takers, South Africa are struggling to make a mark in the cricket world. In a time where the ultimate challenge lies in five-Test tours against top teams like India, South Africa's limited fixtures against them in 2024 do not do justice to their potential.

ICC’s average points system may come under scrutiny for allowing South Africa to make the cut with just six wins, none of which, by the way, have come against higher ranked teams. And with India winning the New Year’s Test at Cape Town, South Africa’s home record too has lost a bit of sheen.

Further eroding their position was the decision to send a second-string squad — naming seven rookies in the 14-man side — to New Zealand to ensure participation of their top players in the domestic T20 tournament earlier this year. It led to a backlash led by the redoubtable Steve Waugh, who slammed South Africa for “not caring” enough for Test cricket.

“If I was New Zealand I wouldn’t even play the series,” Waugh had told Sydney Morning Herald. “If the ICC or someone doesn’t step in shortly then Test cricket doesn’t become Test cricket because you’re not testing yourself against the best players.” So scathing was the criticism at home that their cricket board had to come out with a statement reassuring the fans that Test cricket was still their priority. Not surprisingly, South Africa lost both those Tests in New Zealand.

To bounce back from that low takes a remarkable level of consistency, even though this was far from a convincing march that you expect of a World Test Championship finalist. The campaign had looked almost over after rain and a resilient West Indies forced a draw in Trinidad, but clarity of thought has helped South Africa push through.

“If you look at our campaign, as much as we’re in a position where we’re in the (WTC) final, we haven’t been super dominant in our performances,” SA skipper Temba Bavuma said after Sunday’s Centurion win. “We definitely haven’t been clinical or ruthless when the opportunity or the situation is called upon. But I think what we’ve done is that we’ve found ways to make sure that the result is on our side.”

That meant doing what it takes to bag the points needed to open up the WTC final race. Whether it was Keshav Maharaj and Dane Piedt running through the Windies middle order at Providence, Kyle Verreynne, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder logging crucial hundreds in Bangladesh or Marco Jansen taking 11 wickets against Sri Lanka at Durban, South Africa always found someone to do the job.

And then there was Rabada, not as scintillating as Jasprit Bumrah in 2024, but still returning the best strike among all bowlers to reach 300 Test wickets. This was before a bold and unbeaten 31 in the Centurion Test against Pakistan at the weekend, the third best score ever for a No.10 batter in the fourth innings in a winning cause. South Africa’s lower order resistance at Centurion is a story by itself, with the ninth and 10th wicket stands (41 and 47) in the SA first innings and the unbroken 51-run eighth-wicket stand between Rabada and Marco Jansen in the chase setting fresh standards.

The approach to batting has undergone major recalibration, brought about mostly because of Dean Elgar’s retirement after India’s 2023-24 series. Almost simultaneous was Bavuma’s struggle with fitness, which seemed to weigh on South Africa. Ruled out of the New Year’s Test and subsequent tour of New Zealand due to injury, and then missing the Bangladesh tour after hurting his elbow, Bavuma’s return to scoring ways was timed to perfection when he hit three fifties and a hundred against Sri Lanka. Keeping their head above water throughout this time was through interesting selections like David Bedingham or Mulder.

Also Dane Paterson, dropped after his debut against England in 2020, he resurfaced in New Zealand only because coach Conrad Shukri couldn’t pick a SA20 contracted player. Five wickets in the first innings at Centurion vindicated his selection, but invaluable were those 12 first innings runs from Paterson that allowed Corbin Bosch to pull South Africa from 254/9 to 301, increasing their lead to 90. That it still needed another rearguard batting effort for South Africa to win a Test they could have lost points to many unresolved issues. A winning mindset, however, is not one of them.

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