Ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against South Africa, Australian captain Pat Cummins stated that it’s nice to face an opposition other than India in the summit clash.

Australia and South Africa are due to square off in the 2023-25 WTC Final, slated to be held at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground from June 11-15.

For the first time, India won’t be a part of the blockbuster clash as they failed to seal a berth in the final, finishing third on the points table.

Cummins acknowledged that India have regularly appeared in the finals of ICC events, but it was nice to see some other team apart from them.

“In some ways you expect India to be around. England have been quite strong at home and New Zealand always seem to get to finals. But the same case could be made for South Africa in ICC events. We just don’t see a lot of them in Test cricket but it’s nice and different to an Australia-India final,” Cummins told the Guardian.

Cummins captained Australia to WTC title in 2023, beating India in the final by 209 runs. In the same year, he also led Australia to 2023 ODI World Cup triumph, again defeating India in the final by six wickets.

Pat Cummins and his men will now look to defend their WTC crown when they come up against South Africa.

The Australian skipper also shared his thoughts on South Africa’s criticism of having a seemingly easier route to the WTC final, saying that they can only beat the teams they play against.

“You can only beat who you come up against. Our route to the final was pretty tough but I don’t blame South Africa for having a different route. Their bowling has always stood out and it’s no different now. Keshav Maharaj is a really solid spinner and they’ve always got plenty of quick bowlers who pose a challenge,” Cummins remarked.

South Africa played 12 matches in the WTC 2023-25 cycle, seven fewer than both Australia and India but won eight to top the table and seal their berth in the final.