Pat Cummins's Australia is preparing to play South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord's Cricket Ground. Cummins said that it feels "nice and different" to see something other than another Australia-India final in advance of the headline match. The Proteas are making their way to the WTC final, and the Australian pacer said he's not shocked at all.

Although Australia, the current WTC champions, is the frontrunner for the championship match, one cannot discount South Africa because the latter possesses a strong pace attack.

However, if you look at the experience of both teams, Australia is the obvious favorite when comparing man to man. Pat Cummins is still wary of the Proteas challenge and is not prepared to treat the Temba Bavuma-led team lightly.

“In some ways you expect India to be around. New Zealand usually makes it to the finals, and England has performed well at home. However, the same could be said of South Africa in ICC competitions, Cummins remarked to the Guardian.

"It's nice and different to an Australia-India final, but we simply don't see many of them in Test cricket," he continued.

South Africa's detractors are dismissed by Cummins.

Since South Africa made it to the WTC final, critics have debated about how Bavuma and co. traveled to the summit clash on the back of wins in a two-test series and how the Proteas did not compete against the best teams, such as Australia, England, and India, in the WTC 2023–2025 cycle.

But Cummins dismissed this idea, asserting that South Africa could not be blamed for taking a "different route" to the championship.

“You can only defeat who you face. Although our path to the final was difficult, I don't hold South Africa accountable for taking a different course," he stated.

Over three months have passed since Australia and South Africa last played a Test match. It remains to be seen how both teams play at Lord's, but one anticipates a thrilling game in front of the sold-out crowd.

"It's difficult to say because there are so many unknowns. "Their bowling has always stood out and it's no different now, but you have to be really well balanced to make the final; we haven't played them much," Cummins stated.

“Keshav Maharaj is a really solid spinner and they’ve always got plenty of quick bowlers who pose a challenge,” he said.

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