South Africa will lock horns with Australia in the WTC Final starting June 11.
South African wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton has opened up about how his recent experience in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 would help him in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025. He had a decent debut IPL season for the Mumbai Indians (MI) this year. Rickelton scored 388 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 150.97 while opening the innings with former MI captain Rohit Sharma.
“There is no currency other than runs and batters take confidence out of putting in good performance runs as well. But I have also taken quite a lot of confidence out of IPL too, just spending time in different conditions, but also putting in some decent performances with really talented players around the world,” he stated to ICC.
The Proteas batter is hopeful to end their ICC trophy drought with the Test championship title. The maiden finalists will take on the defending champions, Australia, in the WTC summit clash at the Lord’s Stadium, starting June 11.
“There is no doubt that it all contributes. But, again, it is a new day. It is a new dawn, I guess, for all of us. And hopefully, I can take those past experiences and those learnings and try replicating them next week. What a grand opportunity to represent South Africa to be in a final as well and have a crack at the mace,” he said.
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However, the 28-year-old admitted that he is trying his best not to think about the WTC final much. He recalled his only red-ball match experience in England in 2022. The batter also hoped not to get too overwhelmed on the grand stage and execute his learnings from the previous tour.
“I am trying not to think about it in my honesty. I had the pleasure of being, we played England. So I have a feeling of what the experience is about. Hopefully, the occasion won’t get too grand and I can lean back on that experience just to know what I am going to expect,” stated Rickelton.
Since his debut in the longest cricketing format against Bangladesh in 2022, the youngster has put up 616 runs in 10 matches, including two centuries so far. However, the batter will face Australia for the first time in red-ball cricket.
Coming into his team, South Africa holds an edge over Australia in the recent five-year history. They defeated the Aussies thrice in the five-Test series. However, Australia clinched the latest three-match series against the Proteas in 2022-23 by 2-0.
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