Hn_Ani2_Sa_Johannasberg_Ab_De_Villiers_On_Wtc_00-53-25

ETVBHARAT

1/11/2025

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00:00Gwen Amapaka, who we've seen in the last Test Series, making his Test debut,

00:05now being earmarked as one of the greats moving forward,

00:08and someone who can rub shoulders with a Kagiso Rabada down the line.

00:12He's learning from the best, and that's the beauty of this tournament,

00:14and not only KG, but other world-class bowlers around the world.

00:18They've all come over here, I think of Gleason, Trent Bould,

00:22we see him taking some wickets in that opener, swinging the ball like always.

00:26It's just great to see some of the greatest players in the world.

00:29Joe Root, I watched him play for the Paul Royals today,

00:32Kane Williamson, all the players are here,

00:35and it's just a great tournament to be a part of.

00:59How do you see this team improving?

01:02South Africa wasn't at the top of the world,

01:04that was at the top of the Test rankings,

01:06it was about 12 years back, 13 years back.

01:08You had different members of the squad,

01:10different leaders in the bowling world.

01:14How do you see this thing?

01:16I think the Proteas in the last few years

01:18have taken a little bit of unfair criticism, in my opinion.

01:22You've got to keep in mind all the changes that have happened

01:24in the last three to five years.

01:26There's a lot of experienced players retiring,

01:28a lot of coaching staff moving on.

01:31There's been a lot of changes, a lot of young faces, fresh faces coming in.

01:35Two new coaches, Shukri Conrad doing the Test team,

01:38Rob Walter with the white ball cricket.

01:41There's a lot of new things,

01:43and still they qualified for the T20 World Cup final,

01:46the WTC final.

01:48It is actually incredible,

01:50and I feel they deserve a lot more credit for achieving this.

01:53It's going to take a little bit of time in saying that

01:55to find that consistency that we've had

01:57maybe between 2008 and 2015,

02:00where we were consistently around one of the top teams in the world,

02:05and they will get there. It takes time.

02:07All teams have to go through those phases

02:09to find the experienced players again,

02:11to find the right mix of players.

02:13I was there in 2005, 2006 and 2007,

02:15where we were all over the place.

02:17Very difficult, very inconsistent.

02:19It was very difficult to find our groove,

02:21and then in 2008 we started clicking.

02:23But we had to go through those hard times first.

02:26AB, you mentioned about the WTC final.

02:29Seven wins in a row, getting there,

02:31but the opponents,

02:33facing a tough opponent like Australia,

02:35who have just beaten India 3-1,

02:38making a come-from-behind series win.

02:43How difficult or how challenging is it going to be for South Africa,

02:46and what are the key areas do you think they need to seize to get the better of it?

02:49Just an additional part of that question,

02:51yesterday we had a conversation with Sean Pollack,

02:54and he wasn't too excited about South Africa's prospects.

02:57So your take on that?

02:59Yes, okay, first of all...

03:05Sorry, I'm trying to find the first one again.

03:07What do they have to do to win, to beat a team like Australia?

03:09Yeah, but you asked something else first, sorry.

03:11And I was watching that six...

03:13And I was also checking this, I licked his two balls before the last over,

03:16so I've got to run down.

03:18There's no doubt Australia are favourites.

03:20So there's the first question.

03:22Proteus have done exceptionally well in the last while.

03:25It shows you they're playing a positive brand of cricket,

03:27they're going for results, I love that about them.

03:29And not only the seven wins in a row before that,

03:31there was one draw, and then a bunch of wins again in a row before that.

03:34So I think it's like 10 out of 11, 11 Test match wins.

03:37It's an incredible stat, it doesn't happen often.

03:40And once again, credit's got to go to them,

03:42and the coaching staff, and the way they're approaching their cricket,

03:45with Thien-Baba Bouma as captain,

03:47has taken a lot of criticism over the years,

03:49and look at where he's now.

03:51Taking the team to the WTC final,

03:53over and above incredible cricketing nations like India,

03:56like New Zealand, like England.

03:58So great achievement.

04:00But yes, the reason why they're not favourites

04:03is they're still very inexperienced.

04:05They haven't travelled to places like England of late,

04:07they haven't been to Australia.

04:09So travelling experience comes with time as well.

04:13Yes, they played well in Bangladesh,

04:15but it was only two Test match series

04:17against not one of the best teams in the world.

04:19So now they're up against Australia at Lords,

04:21a moving wicket against one of the best bowling attacks in the world,

04:24and a batting line-up that bats deep.

04:26They all seem to be in form,

04:28but I will never write my team off.

04:30They're a bunch of fighters,

04:32and Thien-Baba Bouma mentioned this in the press conference.

04:34He said, I will take this team to war,

04:36because I know they're going to fight for each other.

04:38So that's all you want.

04:40If you have that kind of attitude, you can achieve anything.

04:42I'll back the guys to go all the way

04:44and win this WDTC final.

Hn_Ani2_Sa_Johannasberg_Ab_De_Villiers_On_Wtc_00-53-25

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