South Africa’s World Test Championship winning captain Temba Bavuma said his team never let the outside voice bother them as they went on to beat Australia in the final of the WTC 2023-25 cycle to win their first ICC trophy after 27 years. Bavuma said the “chokers tag was not theirs to carry”, even if the opposition referred to them with this tag.
“As much as the Aussies were saying we were chokers in the field, we never made it our thing. We just said we’ve got to keep going and be relentless, and the harder we knock, the doors will open. Chokers was not our tag to carry, we never spoke about it, although you always feel a responsibility when you wear the badge,” said Bavuma at the Cricket South Africa headquarters, where his side were given an official welcome.
The win over Australia gave South Africa their first major trophy since 1998, when they won the ICC KnockOut Trophy (later rebranded as ICC Championship Trophy). The Proteas received a grand welcome after returning home on Wednesday. Bavuma’s men were greeted by several thousand supporters when they landed in Johannesburg following a five-wicket win over Australia in the final at Lord’s last week.
“It was quite overwhelming and I have not seen such a lot of people at the airport before,” said an emotionally charged Bavuma.
“It’s quite different to when we came home from the last (Twenty20) World Cup. I guess we have not really realised what we have done until you see that emotion. And to have done it in a proper South African way — it was not simple nor easy — shows something unique to this group and that is that we embrace everything of what it means to be South African,” he added.
Bavuma has had to endure criticism since making his debut in 2014 and said the way he and his team have overcome their challenges can be an example to those who follow. He said, “From a team perspective, we would like to leave a legacy behind and start inspiring and encouraging other teams to go and win trophies. Hopefully, this is the start of a lot of trophies. We don’t have a big legacy yet, but we can speak again in two or three years time when we have started a culture of winning trophies.”
(With inputs from agency)
