Kagiso Rabada 'willing to give blood' for South African team after WTC Final 2025 triumph

South Africa confirmed their Test cricket’s biggest prize by winning the ICC World Test Championship, defeating Australia by five wickets in the Final encounter at the iconic Lord's, London.

Proteas' pacer Kagiso Rabada, who ended the match with a combined nine wickets, was one of the biggest reasons for the long-waited triumph. In the first innings, he picked a sensational five-wicket haul and later claimed four wickets and running through the Australian batting line-up.

"There are normally two voices in your head, the one that doubts and the one that believes. The second is the one that we keep feeding, especially in big moments like this, the World Test Championship final. That's why you saw the performances you saw. It's a testament to our team this season," Rabada told reporters at Lord's following the game as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

I've been working extremely hard: Rabada

After Australia posted 212 and bundled South Africa for just 138, the game looked in favour of the Pat Cummins-led side. But Rabada and Lungi Ngidi spearheaded a solid comeback, reducing Australia to 73 for 7 in their second innings, thanks to the duo sharing seven wickets between them. Though the Aussies bounced back to post a 282-run target, Aiden Markram led the charge in the chase, as they breached past on the morning session of Day 4.

"I don't see myself as a star. I see myself as someone who's willing to give my blood for this team and continue working hard and improving. That's me as a cricketer, always wanting to improve and playing for the badge with a lot of pride. I've been working extremely hard, and those second-innings spells, those are the ones that count more, when you're a bit tired. You could be behind the game, or you could be ahead of the game. This time, we're behind the game. But I think it was just about staying calm and looking at what's in front of us. That's the way I see myself," he added.

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Apart from Markram, skipper Temba Bavuma also played a key anchor with his 66-run knock in the fourth innings, which kept Aussies under pressure and the 2023 champions eventually succumbed to the Proteas standing tall at the crease. Rabada says that he will never always remember the special match, but also falls short of words to describe what it actually means to him and to the entire nation.

"I'll never forget this in my life. None of the boys will forget this in their lives. Playing against Australia, they're a well-accustomed team, a bit of an ageing team, with all due respect. Some of those guys were playing when we were still in high school. So this is special, special, special. It hasn't sunk in yet. I can't really describe," Rabada concluded.