Temba Bavuma talks up the ‘World Cup for red-ball players’

Sitting atop the ICC World Test Championship 2025 points table, South Africa are within touching distance of making the final in June 2025.

Ahead of the two Tests against Pakistan, the final series in this WTC cycle for South Africa, their captain Temba Bavuma spoke about what reaching their first ever WTC Final would mean to the team.

“The World Test Championship, it’s a World Cup for the red-ball players,” Bavuma said. “We’ve obviously set our sights on seeing ourselves in that final.”

Having swept Sri Lanka 2-0 in their previous Test assignment, South Africa now need to win one of their two Tests against Pakistan to confirm their berth in the WTC Final.

“We’ve given ourselves a very good opportunity to do so and we’re quite close to that,” Bavuma said. “We’ve played some good cricket as a team. We’d want to continue that. That championship means a lot as well to cricket around the world.”

Read: World Test Championship - State of Play ahead of 2025 final

The other teams in contention for the final are Australia, India and Sri Lanka, who occupy the second, third and fifth slot in the points table respectively.

With increased focus on the Test game as the WTC cycle heads towards a thrilling conclusion, Bavuma highlighted what stood out about Test cricket.

“I think from a pure skill point of view, as players, we’ve always wanted to play Test cricket.

“You want to see yourself succeeding where things are tough, where you’re tested for long periods,” he said. “Test cricket is the purest form of the game and there’s a reason why they say that.”