Naive to think Australia won't bring up Kagiso Rabada's positive drug test: Daryll Cullinan before WTC final

Hindustan Times

a day ago

South Africa have a long history of failing at the crucial and final hurdles. But the Rainbow Nation will hope for the tide to turn when the Proteas step out at the Lord's Cricket Ground for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia on Wednesday. Pat Cummins and co are the hot favourites for the contest but if there was any year for teams to break their title drought, it is 2025.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) winning their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) winning the Champions League for the first time, and Crystal Palace winning their first major trophy in 120 years all give South Africa reason to believe.
The Temba Bavuma-led team was the first team to seal their qualification for the WTC final. The side achieved the feat after beating Pakistan in the Centurion Test in December 2024. Critics have argued that South Africa had an easier path to the WTC final as compared to the other teams, but one cannot complain as the Proteas reaching the final of a major Test championship makes for a good story.
Ahead of the WTC final between Australia and South Africa, all eyes are on the latter's maverick pacer Kagiso Rabada, who recently made headlines after testing positive for a recreational drug. Rabada served a one-month suspension and is now back playing competitive cricket. One needs to see whether the ever-so-chirpy Australia try to get under the skin of Rabada by bringing up his positive drug Test.
Hindustan Times spoke to former South Africa batter Daryll Cullinan regarding the WTC final and whether he sees Bavuma and co mounting a challenge. He also advised Rabada to have a thick skin as he expects teams to have a crack at Rabada by mentioning his recent drug Test.
Excerpts:
South Africa's chances are good, just as Australia's chances are good. Neither side is coming off a good bit of Test cricket, so that will leave them in terms of Test cricket preparation not at the levels in terms of the game and the mental side of things. We have to consider the weather. It is pretty early in the English season, so we need to see what sort of wicket is going to be prepared.
Either side can win it. I don't think either side is the favourite. Whoever plays the better cricket over 4-5 days and wins key moments with the ball and bat will come out as the winner.
Unfortunately, Rabada is going to deal with, for the rest of his career, comments being made relating to off-the-field matters, not only on the field but also by spectators. Only he can deal with it. The best would be just to take wickets. That'll settle that side of things too, but I think it'd be naive to think that comments won't be made and his attention brought to it, but it's going to be something that he's going to have to live with for the rest of his career, even if he's taking wickets.
But that's something that he has to face. I think he'll be fine with it, but I don't think any cricketer or person would like to be in a working environment, be reminded about your indiscretions, so he's going to have to live with it. As I said, good performances will go a long way to putting that to bed, but as long as he's playing cricket, he'll always be reminded of it.
To be honest with you, in terms of Bavuma, I've never really watched enough cricket. Just to be able to judge him as a captain, I don't think he's a bad captain. I don't think he'll go down in this cricket as a great captain. He's certainly not a bad one. And I do think he has the players' support. And he's consistently been the number-one South African batter for quite a while now.
So he warrants his place. He deserves his place. And I don't think he's shown himself to be a bad captain. So I think right now he's doing nicely as long as he's getting runs, like all captains. There are better captains when they are getting runs. It just takes the pressure off them and they can be more bold and confident as leaders.
But if I had to sum it up, I think he's done a very good job for South Africa and I think he'll continue to do a good job. I think he's a smart guy. He relies on what's around him and will be the first to recognise that he needs that help. So I think from a leadership style and qualities, he's doing a good job.
As long as South Africa play cricket, the chokers title will come up. I am not too sure whether it will apply too much necessarily in this aspect. If they don't win, it will be thrown at them again. How they deal with it, the best way is to win trophies and put that tag to rest.
The key players for me would be South Africa's pace attack. I think both teams have good pace attacks. South Africa have good variation, both left and right arm. They have a real consistent spinner in Keshav Maharaj. Ultimately, South Africa's strength is in their pace attack.