South Africa's Coach Shukri Conrad Defends 'Easy' Path to WTC Final
South African coach Shukri Conrad remained unapologetic about his team’s relatively favorable route to the World Test Championship (WTC) final, following their dramatic two-wicket victory over Pakistan in Centurion on Sunday. The win secured South Africa’s sixth consecutive Test victory and guaranteed their place in the WTC final at Lord’s next June, regardless of the result in their upcoming second Test against Pakistan in Cape Town.
“People abroad will be shouting that we had an easy draw,” Conrad remarked after the victory. “Well, I’m not going to apologise for that. We’re just thrilled that we can be at Lord’s next year.”
South Africa’s qualification has reignited debates over the uneven scheduling of the WTC, a point raised by former England captain Michael Vaughan. In his column for *The Telegraph*, Vaughan criticized the disparity in the number and quality of fixtures, calling for a revamp of the format.
“Every team plays a wildly different number of games, and that does not create a balanced or fair league table,” Vaughan wrote.
South Africa played just 12 matches in the championship cycle—the joint lowest alongside Bangladesh—compared to England’s 22 and the 19 played by Australia and India. South Africa’s six series were all two-match affairs, and they avoided playing against Australia or England, unlike the ‘big three,’ who faced off in marquee five-match series.
Conrad’s team, however, capitalized on their schedule, winning away series against the West Indies and Bangladesh and defeating Sri Lanka at home before their thrilling win over Pakistan. Despite their success, Conrad acknowledged that South Africa’s performance in Centurion was not their best, relying on an unbeaten 51-run ninth-wicket partnership between Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada to clinch the victory.
“The WTC weighs on you; you really want to get to the final,” Conrad admitted. “We need to be a lot more resilient and clinical. We saw what pressure did to some of our players, but they will grow enormously from this experience.”
While acknowledging the criticism, Conrad focused on the future. “We want this team to never know when they are beaten, and we want the opposition to know that too,” he said.
South Africa now turns their attention to the Cape Town Test, where they hope to end their WTC campaign on a high before heading to Lord’s.
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