London, June 10 (UNI) South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on Tuesday announced the playing XI for the ICC World Test Championship Final against Australia starting on Wednesday.
Bavuma headlines a well-rounded lineup that offers the first-time WTC Finalists multiple options in all departments of the game.
Headlining the batting order is Ryan Rickelton, who has been South Africa’s top-scorer in the WTC 2023/25 cycle, alongside Bavuma – not too far behind in the scoring charts, Aiden Markram, and Tristan Stubbs.
South Africa playing XI: Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma (c), Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verrynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
A notable decision is to stick with Wiaan Mulder at No.3 after he was used their during South Africa’s recent Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, an ICC report said.
“Mulder is quite young in that position. But I think having played with Mulder, having seen him and the way he has grown in the last two years within the red-ball format,” Bavuma said.
“It’s about giving him a lot more confidence, keep backing him and just allowing him to do what he does best,” he said.
“He has an opportunity in a pressure situation, but I think he can take comfort from the fact that the guys are backing him. We just want him to play his game,” Bavuma said.
While Keshav Maharaj is the solitary full-time spinner, the bowling lineup also features Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen alongside Lungi Ngidi.
While the Proteas squad also featured Dane Paterson, who had been in fine form during their last Test series against Pakistan, Bavuma explained the reasoning behind opting for Ngidi.
“Probably one of the tougher decisions that has been made. We see what Dane Paterson did for us to the end of last season,” Bavuma said.
“But it was more from a tactical point of view. Probably a little bit more pace from Lungi, guess he’s
a bit taller as well,” he said.
“Lungi also has a better record, not taking away anything from Patto. He (Ngidi) has the experience, he’s played here before, not that Patto hasn’t,” Bavuma said.
“But I think he (Ngidi) will complement that bowling attack a little more. We have a guy like Mulder, who can give us something similar like Patto,” he said.
“It was probably one of the difficult decision we had to make,” Bavuma added.
