South Africa will begin their 2025-27 World Test Championship campaign against Zimbabwe, with three new players in the squad and Keshav Maharaj as the stand-in captain.
Three debutants and a new captain highlight South Africa’s fresh start in the 2025-27 World Test Championship
South Africa has gone in with a fresh and young team, which includes three debutants, as they start afresh in their new ICC World Test Championship, WTC 2025-27. This starts this coming Saturday as they play their first Test match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
Regular captain Temba Bavuma is ruled out with a hamstring twist and will be replaced by Keshav Maharaj as interim captain. This match will mark the beginning of a new era, as only four members of the South African squad that won the WTC Final will be playing this game.
The New Squad with a Fresh Face to Begin a New Chapter
The youngsters Dewald Brevis, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, and Codi Yusuf are about to debut in Tests, and they are providing new energy and hope to the South Africa team.
- Pretorius caught the eye in the SA20, making 397 runs, and has a great first-class average of 60.62.
- Brevis opened his sporting career relatively, but the IPL produced his big-hitting potential with 225 runs in 6 games as a CSK player.
- The pace attack will be led by Yusuf, a fast bowler who is young and fiery, alongside other youngsters.
This is the representation of the generational change that South Africa is ushering in, as this team is constructing the future, building off the past after winning the last edition of the WTC title.
Keshav Maharaj takes over in place of the stand-in captain.
Temba Bavuma is on the sidelines after a hamstring injury kept him out of the WTC Final, and the veteran spinner, Keshav Maharaj, steers the ship in this all-important tour.
Not only is Maharaj leading the team, but he is also brushing on the threshold of personal history. He requires only that final wicket to be the first South African spinner to take 200 Test wickets, and this can easily be achieved in the first innings itself of the contest against Zimbabwe.
He will play a major role in the leadership of a young and inexperienced team.
The South African playing XI is a combination of youth and experience.
The batting line-up of South Africa will be with Tony de Zorzi and Matthew Breetzke opening the innings, with Wiaan Mulder keeping the No. 3 position after playing well in the WTC Final.
David Bedingham comes in at four, followed by Pretorius at five and Brevis at six, and both are keen to impress in their debuts. Wicketkeeping responsibilities go to Kyle Verreynne, and he comes in at seven.
Keshav Maharaj is the leader of the bowling attack and is accompanied by Corbin Bosch, Codi Yusuf (debutant), and teenage pace sensation Kwena Maphaka, who will make it a skilful yet unpredictable attack.
What To Look forward to in the Zimbabwe Test
Zimbabwe will enjoy the benefit of home ground, but South Africa may come out with the raw talent and aggressiveness to win. Special attention will be paid to the ability of the new faces to adapt to the rigorous test format as quickly as possible.
The game is not only the first one in the WTC 2025-27 cycle but also a judgement on why South Africa has followed their development approach on depth. Provided the newcomers become stars, this may become the beginning of the new successful epoch in South African cricket.
