Pat Cummins is fully aware that this will be the first time in a World Test Championship final that Team India won't be vying for victory. Rather, the ultimate Test honor would be contested between Australia and South Africa, two teams with a rich history. The 1999 World Cup semifinal, the record 434-run chase in 2006, and, of course, the notorious Cape Town Sandpaper incident are just a few of the memorable clashes that have occurred between these two teams. However, the stakes are at its highest when it's the championship of an ICC competition. While Temba Bavuma, Cummins' South African counterpart, has not yet experienced defeat as South Africa's Test captain, Cummins has never lost the championship game of an ICC tournament. One of these streaks will come to an end.

On the eve of the Test match, when the battle lines were about to be drawn, Cummins did, however, name-drop Team India, stating that every leading team in the world anticipates the Men in Blue to be in the final. And even if it seems like a pretty typical assertion, it is hard to deny that it serves as a sufficient reminder to India's head coach Gautam Gambhir and former Test captain Rohit Sharma of the enormous opportunity that was missed. When India's Test season started in September of last year, they needed to win at least six of their ten games in order to complete a hat-trick of reaching the WTC finals, but they only managed three victories. India still had to win four more games, with a three-game series against New Zealand at home and five more in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after defeating Bangladesh 2-0. But the 0-3 whitewash at the hands of the BlackCaps put a wrench in the works, nearly eliminating India from consideration.

Hence, even though Cummins was aware of it, he made sure the Proteas were not left out. With a comfortable advantage at the top of the points standings for the majority of the time, South Africa was always the frontrunner to qualify for the WCT final, and now that they are finally here, accompanied by the defending champions, Cummins discussed all the top teams that were battling tooth and nail for the top spot.

Nobody knows what to anticipate

India will continue to exist in some manner. New Zealand consistently reaches the finals, and England has performed well at home. However, in ICC tournaments, South Africa might be argued in the same way. In test cricket, we don't see many of them, but a final between Australia and India is a pleasant change. Only those you encounter can be defeated. Although our path to the finals was rather challenging, I don't fault South Africa for taking a different course, Cummins stated.

After defeating India at Sydney to win the series and the BGT 3-1, the WTC finals would signal Australia's comeback to Test cricket for the first time. In the interim, South Africa's absence from Test cricket has been making news for some time. Many questions will only be answered when the first ball is bowled at the renowned Lord's Cricket Ground in London, since both sides played their previous Test game in January.

"Because there are so many unknowns, it's difficult to say. You have to have a great balance to make the finals, even though we haven't played them a lot [with their previous Test series ending in a comfortable Australian win at home in 2022-23]. Cummins stated, "Their bowling has always stood out, and it's no different now. They have always got plenty of quick bowlers who pose a challenge, and [Keshav] Maharaj is a really solid spinner."

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