South Africa became the first team to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final after winning the Boxing Day thriller against Pakistan in Centurion. South Africa on the back of six consecutive Test wins against West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and the seventh against India (in the last Boxing Day Test) in the current cycle have left India and Australia fighting for the only remaining spot, however, a section of critics disregarded it as 'easy draw' considering they didn't play either of Australia, India or England away from home.
However, South Africa's red-ball coach wasn't apologetic about his team qualifying for the next stage suggesting that it is the biggest thing in this team's existence and no one can take it away.
"I'm never going to apologise for getting into the final," Conrad was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo ahead of the second and final Test against Pakistan at Newlands, Cape Town. "It's the biggest thing in this team's existence. It's the biggest thing for South African cricket at the moment. It's the biggest thing for Test cricket, for world cricket, where the right noises are going to start being made."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan labelled South Africa's WTC final qualification as "on the back of beating pretty much nobody" and that they don't "warrant being in the World Test Championship final with whom they have played over the last two years" on Fox Cricket, while another commentator on air during the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia, Kerry O'Keeffe called South Africa's feat "like making the Wimbledon final without playing a seed on the way".
Conrad responded with pretty logical replies while calling comments like these as an insult to the opposition they came up against. "One of the nobodies we beat won a Test match in Australia - West Indies beat Australia in a Test match," Conrad said. "They are not nobody. New Zealand beat India: three-zip in India. New Zealand is not a nobody. Sri Lanka won Test matches [against England and New Zealand].
"I don't buy this thing about us beating nobody. You tell any side to go and win six on the bounce, in places you haven't won in a decade and with a young side, with a decimated bowling attack and when you do that, you come back and tell me that we've beaten nobody," he added.
South Africa have had loads of injuries to counter be it Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee or Wiaan Mulder and loss of form to a couple of their star players and still be able to beat Bangladesh away 2-0 and Sri Lanka at home 2-0, who were making a late run to the final themselves.
Even if South Africa lose the Cape Town Test, their place has already been sealed. It's now between India, Australia and Sri Lanka for the remaining spot.
