'I just want to see you beat Australia one day' - South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad reminded of father’s wish just before historic win

‌South Africa coach Shukri Conrad had something more to cheer for than his side winning the World Test Championship 2025 final breaking the 27-year drought for an ICC trophy. It was his late father’s ultimate wish to watch him beat Australia in international cricket. Though neither Conrad nor his father could represent the Proteas, he would have been happy to coach a side that beat the Aussies in the marquee clash at Lord’s on Saturday.

"With two runs to go, I remember the old man saying to me, 'I just want to see you beat Australia one day'," Conrad told reporters after the historic win.

"It was probably the two worst hours of cricket for me, but the two best at the same time," Conrad said. "We were living every emotion, almost sketching everything that potentially could go wrong. The mind just plays weird and wonderful games. When Scholsy (Kyle Verreynne) smacked that one, there was just an outpour of applause from everyone. I'm thrilled for these guys."

In his very first assignment after taking over the reins of the South African cricket team across all formats, Conrad came out with flying colours to end the miserable run of the Proteas in knockout matches of ICC events. He played a key role in the appointment of Temba Bavuma as the captain of the side and also backed players like Aiden Markram to come good when the team needed them to. With Markram and Bavuma shining bright in South Africa’s historic win and Lungi Ngidi also playing a crucial role in the second innings in his first Test match in 10 months, Conrad turned everything he touched to gold.

"This is not me trying to justify my selections in any way. This is purely a case of every single guy on this side wanting to deliver and play his part. And everybody did," Conrad explained. "We're the world champions. We create our own reality.”

With a heated debate going on in cricketing circles ahead of the WTC 2025 final whether South Africa merited a place with the side playing eight of their 12 Test matches in the current cycle against sides placed sixth to ninth, Conrad was happy to silence all those critics in style as his side beat the defending champions in emphatic fashion.

“(People were saying) we haven't played any of the big three," Conrad said. “Well, now we've played one of them and we beat them. This is not me being arrogant. This is me saying when we play against the supposed top three, we will perform. And we're the world champions."

"We play whatever's put in front of us. There's a lot of things we'd like, but we can't get, so we just play the cards we're dealt with. And it's often not what you dealt, but how you play those cards. And I think we've done nicely."

"Arguably the best side in the world - we've just beaten them," he said.

Conrad was also amused at the amount of support that his side received at a neutral venue like Lord’s with the supporters literally cheering every run scored by the Proteas in the second innings during the run chase. He was also thrilled to give them the best possible gift by winning the elusive title to trigger jubilant celebrations in the stands.

"It's an absolute spectacle," the SA head coach said in awe of the venue. “Everything about this place is spot on: the vibe, the crowd support, it was wonderful. And for people who take time off and spend hard-earned cash at 24 Rands to a Pound to come out here and support, we're just thrilled that we could deliver for them as well."

And he hopes that the WTC final win will create a ripple effect back home and the spectators start thronging the stadiums in multi-day games at the first-class level and international level. He sounded confident about the prospects of Test cricket gaining more popularity back home, courtesy of South Africa’s win over Australia to lift their first WTC title.

"I just want people to fall in love with first-class and Test cricket again and I think people will, because the spin-offs are immense," Conrad said. "T20, the most popular format, benefits if you've got a strong first-class system and a strong Test team. You only need to look at the IPL. Our players are the most sought after, and today we become World Test Champions as well."