New Delhi [India], June 7 : Former Proteas head coach Mark Boucher believes that if South Africa can gun down the reigning World Test Champions, Australia, it could mark the beginning of a new era. He also identified two youngsters who could be the key to their success in the upcoming final at Lord's.
South Africa earned a spot in the WTC final after winning seven consecutive Tests and finished at the top of the table standings. After getting a shot at ending their trophy drought, South Africa found itself surrounded by criticism, considering they had just played 12 fixtures to fight for the WTC mace.
"A lot of people have criticised South Africa, which is not really fair. You play what's in front of you, and with all due respect, the sides that we've played against, we probably should have beaten, and we've done that. So we find ourselves in a final. But I wouldn't say that it has got the crowds going in our country," Boucher told ESPNcricinfo during the IPL.
"Everyone's very excited about it now as the opportunity arises, a lot of people are going to travel over to London, spend all their Rands and go watch what should be a good match. If we win it, I think then that could be the turnaround for Test cricket in our country," he added.
During the buildup to the high-stakes contest, fans and many former cricketers deemed Australia the on-paper favourites. After years of faltering in the semi-finals of the ICC events, Boucher believes it is time to get rid of the "chokers" tag.
"We're playing for a trophy, so I guess a lot of people are saying no [we can't win], but I think it's a different feel in Test match cricket," he said. "It's played over a longer period of time and you've just got to win big moments in the game as well. Yes, there will be that tag [chokers] that gets thrown our way until we win a trophy," he said.
"You're not going to get rid of the tag. Is it deserving on these youngsters coming through? No, it's almost like they're carrying the burden of what happened in previous years, which is always going to be tough on them, but they're the ones in control of their futures at the moment," he added.
For Boucher, South Africa youngsters Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs are two youngsters who could be the key to their success in the pulsating contest that kicks off on Wednesday.
"Ryan Rickelton has been playing nicely for Mumbai Indians (MI) and he was actually on the tour that we went to England [in 2022] as well. He's actually played quite a few games in England as well, so he'll know the conditions," Boucher said.
"And Tristan Stubbs has come back and played a lot of domestic cricket and basically forced his way into the Test side because of the runs that he's got. On paper, Australia will probably feel that they've got a better batting line-up than what we have, but have we got the attitude to go out there and in a one-off game, just leave it all out there? Absolutely," he added.
South Africa squad: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy.
Australia squad: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann. Travelling reserve: Brendan Doggett.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
