• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Kagiso Rabada Sends Warning To Pat Cummins Australia Ahead Of Wtc Final

Kagiso Rabada Sends Warning To Pat Cummins' Australia Ahead Of WTC Final

Aakash Saini∙ Updated: Jan 7 2025, 2:23 PM

Kagiso Rabada [Source: @ICC/x]Kagiso Rabada [Source: @ICC/x]

South Africa qualified for the 2025 WTC final by recording twin wins over Pakistan at home. Currently on a trail of seven successive Test wins, Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada recently sent out a stern warning to fellow finalists, the Pat Cummins-led Australian troops.

Kagiso Rabada has signified the ‘intense’ Test rivalry between South Africa and Australia. Moreover, while speaking on SuperSport after the series win over Pakistan, the 29-year-old also claimed that South Africa knows what it takes to defeat Australia. He said:

“It's actually quite some distance away, but a big occasion like the World Test Championship final gets you up for it. South Africa versus Australia has always been an intense rivalry because we play cricket quite similarly. We play hard – and they're going to come hard at us, and we know that. But we also know how to beat them.”

Kagiso Rabada signifies AUS vs SA rivalry before final

Rabada further stated that Test cricket is ‘still alive’ in this age of T20 leagues, and the recently-concluded series against Pakistan was a ‘wonderful advertisement’ for the game’s purest format. He added:

“One hundred per cent, Test cricket is still alive. It's our best format that we've been playing right now. When you look at South African cricket and all our legends, they've all been great Test cricketers. The world's best players are Test cricketers, and this series against Pakistan has been a wonderful advertisement for Test cricket, especially in South Africa.”

Kagiso Rabada picked up eight wickets in the two Tests against Pakistan, and played an influential match-winning innings with the bat in the series-opener at Centurion.

South Africa’s twin wins over Pakistan extended their winning streak to seven Tests, considering the recently-concluded home series was preceded by wins over West Indies, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Fellow finalists and current WTC holders Australia also qualified for the 2025 final by recording a series win at home, albeit against India earlier this month. The WTC 2025 final between the two nations will be hosted by the iconic Lord’s venue from June 11 onwards.