Hello Friends,
Hope the new year has started on a good note for all of you & I wish it to be continued the same way for the rest of the year. Whereas it certainly has started on the worst possible way for the Indian men's cricket team who by loosing the final test against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy (Click here for my review of the full series) not only lost the series after a decade but also missed out on a chance of playing the WTC final for the third consecutive time. Post the series loss a string of controversies & speculations going on in the cricketing circle. But at the same time the team has already started their preparation for the upcoming Champions trophy with a much awaited white ball series against England.
In other cricketing actions New Zealand men's team completed a decent preparation for the champions trophy during their white ball series against Sri Lanka. Australia, South Africa & Bangladesh are focused on their premier annual T20 leagues BBL,SA20 & BPL respectively though Aussie test team is already in Sri Lanka for their final series of the current WTC cycle.
Indian women's team started the year on a record breaking note after beating the Irish women with an eye on the upcoming ODI world cup later this year. Joyful year continues for the Aussie women too who could retain the Ashes against arch rivals England. But the first edition of Sports Talk Of The Month for 2025 features the two finalists of current WTC cycle which is scheduled to be played later this year in England. South Africa's entry to the final has been a real surprise as they were not as dominant as some of their counterparts throughout the cycle. Let's take a quick look on both the sides' strengths as well as their chances of ending the cycle with a bang.
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| Image credit: Anupcristi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
First team to qualify for the WTC final this season was South Africa. It was a surprise for many as they were not a strong contender for almost half of the cycle & also did not have as much matches as India or Australia had. But less number of matches somewhere helped their cause just like it did for New Zealand in the first cycle of WTC. They also faced criticism for the fact that they compromised on their test team to make sure their newly launched T20 league gets full players' availability earlier last year when they did not send their first choice team for their test tour to New Zealand. An initiative like WTC has been launched to prioritize test cricket which has continuously taken back seat with the ever increasing popularity of T20 cricket. At the same time ICC has also been criticized for its disparity among teams in terms of number of test matches they play during a particular WTC cycle. If it's a global event each & every participating team should play equal number of matches just like T20 or ODI world cups. But that's not the case for WTC which definitely requires a lot of thinking going ahead.
Nevertheless Proteas' performance during this cycle of WTC was impressive. Captain Temba Bavuma who is often criticized for his batting looked in good touch post his comeback from injury. In his absence the team was well led by his deputy Markram. Considering there are quite a few newcomers in the test side & bowling unit was consistently hit by injuries this achievement is of significant importance. Over the years South Africa has always been a tough team to beat but their failure to win knockout games in ICC tournaments has dampened their chances of being the best across formats. But that scenario seemed to be changing to some extent in last couple of years when they were semifinalists & finalists in ODI World cup 2023 & T20I World cup 2024 respectively. Even their women's team were the finalists in the last two T20 World cups. Despite being tagged as chokers they have always exhibited extreme resilience across formats & that is what makes them such a dangerous side.
Over the years they have produced world class cricketers too who have achieved tremendous cricketing supremacy. But unfortunately none of them could be a part of a global title winning team. They were completely gutted after their loss in last year's T20 World cup final when they were in complete control to win their maiden world cup title but somehow they jeopardized their chances once again. Their players have been top performers in international cricket as well as franchise cricket. But when it comes to crunch moments in big tournaments all of them seemed to be puzzled to crack the code. But the current test team under captain Bavuma & head coach Shukri Conrad seems quite determined to change their fortunes this time which is going to be yet another global competition final for them. Hopefully this energetic bunch of guys can change their cricketing history once and for all.
Now let's talk about the opponent team. Reason why everybody thinks Proteas' job will be difficult in the upcoming final is because of their opponent. Australia are the defending champions of WTC 2023 & a fearsome competitor in any format of the game. They will be confident enough post their recent success against India at home. No doubt it's going to be a cracker of a game. Australia's ability to bring their best game during the finals is what makes them an even more dangerous side in games like these. They have every reason to be excited in their defence of the title.
Australia had good enough success in English conditions in the recent past. But they have to be careful against South African bowling attack which is well equipped for such conditions. Any kind of complacency can be suicidal in situations like these. But with a leader like Pat Cummins at the helm it seems utterly improbable that they won't be playing their best game. Cummins as a leader in red ball cricket is slowly creating his own legacy. Even though it is expected that they will be having all the ammunitions ready for the big game but their batters' recent performance is not that encouraging despite their series win against India. In seam friendly conditions how they adapt against the moving ball is going to be the key.
Aussies will feel more confident also because they have tasted success against almost all the major teams during the current cycle which is not the case for their opponent team. At the same time a neutral venue gives an even platform to both the teams. Aussie batters have really grinded hard in their last series against India which would have given them enough confidence. They will be up against Sri Lanka later this week in a two test match series which is again going to be a tough test for their batters. So before a big final their batting unit which was struggling for a while is getting some much needed batting practice in tough conditions. Their bowling has been world class without a doubt. Probably a strong batting performance will surely take them closer to their 2nd successive WTC title. Irrespective of whoever wins the game it's going be an exciting contest for the spectators & I'm sure everybody is eagerly waiting for the same.
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