AB de Villiers counts on Temba Bavuma for WTC final

South Africa have announced their squad for the upcoming World Test Championship final, which will be played in June at Lord's Cricket Stadium. The side will feature some talented and in-form players, led by South African star batter and captain, Temba Bavuma.

Though the Proteas have endured bad luck in the mega ICC (International Cricket Council) events. However, they are still backed by their former cricketers, including the former legend, AB de Villiers. Apart from backing his national team to win their first-ever WTC title and second ICC trophy, he also mentioned who could be the key players going into the game for the Rainbow Nation.

The 41-year-old and the 2015 World Cup semi-finalist highlighted skipper Temba Bavuma and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne as the players to watch out for in the upcoming fixture.

“I think an integral part of that batting line-up, which I feel will be incredibly important at Lord's, it's always important to get runs on the board there and to give your bowlers a bit of freedom. But I feel the batters that need to be in form, probably Temba as captain to lead from the front, and then someone like Kyle Verreynne at the back end to bat with the tail," AB de Villiers said in a video posted by the ICC.

“From past experiences at Lord's, you have the in-form batter, and that can get that tail wagging at the back end. They score your extra 80 to 100 runs, which generally seem to help you win Test matches in the end,” the former South African cricketer added.

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De Villiers believes Verreynne will be crucial for South Africa

Furthermore, AB de Villiers supported his claim on the importance of the wicketkeeper-batter, Kyle Verreynne, who he believes can score crucial runs at the back end if the top order does not manage to score many runs. The ICC Hall of Fame inductee said it would be important for Verreynne to direct the traffic lower down the order.

“I think that's going to be crucially important—someone like a Temba, a Markram perhaps, a Rickelton to maintain that kind of form, to get runs on the board. But once we run out of the top order, to have someone like Kyle Verreynne to direct traffic at the back end, it's going to be very important,” De Villiers concluded.