Bavuma eyes more ICC trophies following Lord's breakthrough
South Africa best Australia to seize the Ultimate Test | Match Highlights | WTC25 Final
Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada led the way as South Africa bested the defending champions to clinch WTC mace at Lord's.
Fresh off winning the ICC World Test Championship Final, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma has already set his sights firmly set on the future: bringing even more ICC trophies home to South Africa across all formats.
This victory against Australia at Lord's was particularly significant, marking the nation's first senior ICC trophy in either men's or women's cricket since 1998, ending a long wait for the Proteas.
"We recognise that the sun shines on us and we have the responsibility of doing something that has never been done before," Bavuma said after South Africa's five-wicket victory at Lord's.
"To be a part of that history is massive in a lot of ways. And we hope that this is the start of something. There could be more, there could be more trophies."
Bavuma leads Proteas push with a captain's knock | Player Highlights | WTC25 Final
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma overcame pain to score a valiant half-century to put his side on course to a historic win at Lord's.
For Bavuma, the next opportunity may come at a home ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, which South Africa will co-host alongside Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2027.
He believes the momentum of the WTC victory can be carried into the white-ball formats as well.
"I think it'll be massive. I mean, that tournament, we're definitely setting our sights on doing special things in that tournament," Bavuma noted.
"There is still a way to go until then. Shukri (Conrad) obviously comes in now as the white-ball coach, so we'll see what plans that he has, who his personnel will be. But yeah, hopefully this is the start of those trophies for the team."
Before the ODI World Cup, South Africa will feature in the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Under the captaincy of Aiden Markram, they will look to go one step further than they did in 2024, where they finished as close runners-up to India.
"Before then, the guys go to train and stuff, so Aiden and his boys, we'll be supporting them to follow suit," Bavuma said.
"But that 2027, a lot of us, we want to be there. We need to be fit to be there first. But I'll definitely be putting up my hand to be a part of that group."
He also recognised that, though they have achieved a major goal by winning the mace at Lord's, their legacy as a team will be defined by many more years of Test cricket — and he dreams of eventually emulating or even surpassing the South African side that played under Graeme Smith.
"We've kind of said as a team that, and it was our chat in our camp that we had in Arundel, that we'd like to judge ourselves after three, four years as a group, really take stock there and see where we're at. It's a lovely thing that we have the Mace as part of that journey," Bavuma said.
"But in terms of us leaving a legacy, we understand that we're not going to leave a legacy behind in two years. Yes, we've created history, but as a group, you know, we'd like to emulate, if not do better, than what Graham and his team did. They've set the standard. I don't think anyone has reached that standard as of yet."
Proteas celebrate World Test Championship triumph at Lord's | WTC25 Final
South Africa players all smiles as they pose with the World Test Championship mace after sealing off a special win at Lord's.
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