The animated celebration of Kagiso Rabada when Marco Jansen brought up the winning runs with a boundary off Mohammad Abbas in the opening Test against Pakistan in Centurion simply reflected the ecstasy of the South Africans in reaching their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) final.

For long, the Proteas have had to hear they are no longer the force they used to be, like the teams led by Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock and Graeme Smith. The “chokers” label, a tag in use even when referring to the stronger South African teams of the 90s and early 2000s, still exists, especially with Aiden Markram and Co. failing to beat Indiain the 2024 T20 World Cup final despite being in a favourable situation.

If these weren’t enough, the quota system tends to be on the subconscious mind of the South African cricketing fraternity all the time. However, in spite of all obstacles, captain Temba Bavuma and his teammates have given themselves a chance to hold the World Test Championship mace at Lord’s this June. A fact that cannot be changed.

Their detractors claim South Africa beat weaker Test teams like the West Indies, Bangladesh and Pakistan en route to their WTC final berth, and didn’t have to win series against stronger opponents like India, Australia and England. To be fair to Bavuma and Co., they did register an innings win against India in December 2023. Besides, even the second and final Test of that series that they lost on a bad Newlands wicket, they still managed to give the Rohit Sharma-led side a scare.

And as for beating so-called weaker sides, South Africa still had to play and win those Tests.

According to former captain Smith, it’s the “energy and spirit” of the current Proteas group that stands out. “You can see that the team has good energy. They look like a team that is reallyplaying for each other,”Smith, also the SA20 commissioner, emphasised.

“They’re committed to each other and they’re playing well. It’s also great to see the spirit with which they’re playing the game.

“I feel there’s some real spirit being built back into the game with people starting to get behind our team again.”

Never give up appears to be the motto of this Bavuma-led South African side, at least when it comes to Test cricket. “The characters that stood up there (in Centurion), you kind of cherish that for the rest of your career. And when you come under those crunch moments, having something like that to fall back on as a team pretty much helps.

“As South Africans, in many ways, we’ll never kind of give up. We’re always fighting,” medium-pacer all-rounder Wiaan Mulder, in with a chance to play the second and final Test against Pakistan in Cape Town (beginning on Friday), said on Wednesday.

“Sometimes we get punched to the floor and then you have to fight your way back. But I think that’s something we’re also trying to change in this team, as we’re trying to find a way to throw the first punch,” 26-year-old Mulder said.