Won’t apologise for reaching WTC final: South Africa coach hits back at critics

South Africa coach Shukri Conrad slammed the critics of his team who said that the Proteas reached the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final on pure luck and without playing tougher oppositions like Australia and England. 

"I'm never going to apologise for getting into the final. It's the biggest thing in this team's existence. It's the biggest thing for South African cricket at the moment. 

It's the biggest thing for Test cricket, for world cricket, where the right noises are going to start being made,” Conrad told ESPN Cricinfo on the eve of the second Test against Pakistan, which is also going to be the last of the summer for the Proteas. 

Conrad lashed out at the likes of former England captain Michael Vaughan who said that the Proteas made it to the final by beating ‘nobody’ and former Australia spinner Kerry O’Keefe, who compared the South Africa’s final entry to someone reaching the Wimbledon final without playing seeded players even once. 

"One of the nobodies we beat won a Test match in Australia - West Indies beat Australia in a Test match. They are not nobody. New Zealand beat India: three-zip in India. New Zealand is not a nobody. Sri Lanka won Test matches [against England and New Zealand]. 

I don't buy this thing about us beating ‘nobody’. You tell any side to go and win six on the bounce, in places you haven't won in a decade and with a young side, with a decimated bowling attack and when you do that, you come back and tell me that we've beaten nobody."

Also Read: From ‘non-serious Test nation’ to WTC finalists: South Africa’s surreal journey

South Africa beat Bangladesh (2-0) and West Indies (1-0) away. The win in Bangladesh was their first series win in Asia in a decade. They lost 0-2 to New Zealand as they travelled with a second-string team. At home, they drew against India (1-1), beat Sri Lanka (2-0) and are up 1-0 against Pakistan with a match to go.