Sudáfrica declara jugar XI para el WTC final 2025, Lungi Nggi Ngidi vuelve a Dane Paterson

South Africa has named their playing XI for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025 against Australia a day prior. Proteas captain Temba Bavuma addressed the press at Lord’s and, in a rather Ben Stokes-ian way, named the team that’ll fight for the Test mace.

Lungi Ngidi returns

Fascinatingly, InsideSport had predicted that South Africa would name the exact XI. There were a few talking about it. Will Bavuma decide to pick Tony de Zorzi, an opener who has shown glimpses of brilliance? Will Keshav Maharaj be included, knowing that his services may not be needed for a long duration or perhaps for the entire match? Would it be right to bring in Lungi Ngidi, who hasn’t played a Test match since August 2024, over Dane Paterson, who has been their best bowler in the last few matches?

But in the end, South Africa has decided to continue trusting Maharaj and his invaluable left-arm spin. Have backed Tristan Stubbs over de Zorzi. And picked Ngidi, who can do much more on an unhelpful pitch than Paterson due to his height, speed, and variations.

South Africa playing XI for WTC Final 2025

Batters: Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wk)

All-rounders: Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder

Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi

Bench: Tony de Zorzi, Corbin Bosch, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson