2025: YEAR IN REVIEW | Proteas go from World Test Champions to India conquerors

This was the year the Proteas Test side came of age. Under the astute leadership of coach Shukri Conrad and captain Temba Bavuma, the Proteas closed a chapter containing 27 years of hurt, disappointment and trauma to be crowned World Test Champions at Lord’s.

It was arguably the most seminal moment in South African cricket history since the first ball was bowled at Eden Gardens upon the team’s return from isolation back in 1991. 

The WTC final at the “Home of Cricket” was an occasion to savour. The opposition was the arch-enemy Australia, which added to the spectacle, especially as the Baggy Greens were expected to roll a young and inexperienced Proteas team that many believed were not deserving of their place in the showpiece due to the opposition they faced on their road to Lord’s.

But this Proteas side had won seven consecutive Tests to earn the right to go into battle on the biggest stage, having shown along the way the type of resilience that would become their trademark. 

The WTC final was an excellent advertisement for Test cricket with the momentum switching throughout the first two days before Aiden Markram delivered an innings for the ages. In conjunction with skipper Bavuma, who heroically hobbled through on one leg for the most part of his time at the crease, the Proteas’ most experienced batting pair delivered the ICC’s golden mace to a success-starved South African cricket nation. 

It was a seismic victory that stretched beyond the cricket landscape with Bavuma, the country’s first Black African Proteas captain, finally being afforded the recognition he richly deserved from the entire Mzansi. 

But for those thinking that the Proteas had scaled their Everest, and that it was only downhill from there with consecutive tours to subcontinent giants Pakistan and India on the horizon to kickstart the new WTC cycle, they had ain’t seen nothing yet. 

Two Test victories followed in Zimbabwe, which was marked by Wiaan Mulder surpassing Hashim Amla’s 311 to become the holder of the highest individual score by a Proteas’ batter, but controversially declaring on 367 not out just short of the Brian Lara’s world record 400 in the second, extended the victory streak to 10 matches - the best-ever in Proteas’ history.  

Unfortunately, in the absence of Bavuma, who was ruled out of the Zimbabwe and Pakistan series due to injury, the winning streak came to a halt in the first Test in Lahore despite allrounder Senuran Muthusamy’s career-best 11 wicket-match haul at the Gaddafi Stadium.

It all turned around though the following week in Rawalpindi, when despite reeling at 235/8 in response to Pakistan’s 333, the Proteas’ last two wickets added a further 169 runs to push the visitors up to an impregnable 404. 

The DNA of Conrad’s charges shone through here with Muthusamy contributing an undefeated 89 before Kagiso Rabada’s heroic 71 off just 61 balls in a record 98-run last-wicket partnership.

Pakistan had suffered a blow to the gut and folded meekly in their second innings to hand a Markram-led Proteas team to a comfortable eight-wicket victory - their first in Pakistan for 18 years. But that was only the appetiser to an Indian series that will forever be etched in annals of South African cricket. 

The Proteas arrived in India with a dreadful record, dating back to having last won a Test there 15 years ago, and a series even further back when the late Hansie Cronje’s charges won back at the turn of the millennium. This all changed over two glorious weeks, starting at India's coliseum Eden Gardens in Kolkata. 

Although the Proteas had been boosted by the return of their skipper Bavuma from injury, their talismanic fast bowler Rabada had been ruled out on the morning of the first Test. 

In a low-scoring Test, Bavuma’s heroic 55 not out in the second innings to drag the target up to 124, allowed off-spinner Simon Harmer to take centre stage in the fourth and final innings. 

It was the ultimate redemption story after Harmer had been brutally taken apart in his debut series in India years ago before heading off to the English County Championship to hone his craft, before returning to outbowl the hosts on their home spinning patch. Harmer claimed eight wickets in the match, with his 4/21 in the second innings driving the Proteas to an epic 30-run triumph. 

And yet the best was yet to come with the Proteas’ delivering their finest performance of 2025 when they thrashed Rishabh Pant’s side by a record 408 runs in the second Test in Guwahati to cleansweep their hosts 2-0, and claim a first Test series win in India for 25 years. 

All-rounder Marco Jansen was the standout performer with a six-wicket first innings haul, 93 exhilarating runs with the bat, before completing a one-handed stunner that rubber-stamped the Proteas’ dominance in the series. 

It was the perfect ending to a near-perfect year for the Proteas Test side. 

ODIs and T2Os

The Proteas white-ball team underwent a major overhaul after failing at the semi-final hurdle again in the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan in early March. After the defeat to New Zealand, coach Rob Walter headed back home Down Under to take charge of the Black Caps with Conrad being elevated to head coach of all formats.

The transition has been a rollercoaster with the Proteas winning consecutive high-profile away ODI series in both Australia and England before falling short in India 2-1. Top-order batter Matthew Breetzke has been the find of 2025 with the stylish right-hander holding multiple ODI records, notably the highest score by a debutant (150), breaking a 47-year-old record, and being the first male cricketer with 50+ scores in his first five consecutive ODIs.

The T20s, however, remains the priority with the eye on next year’s T20 World Cup, and plenty of work still needs to be done there with the Proteas winning just six out of 17 T20Is this entire calendar year. There is reason for optimism though with Quinton de Kock having made a sensational retirement U-turn to return to the white-ball squads along with fast bowler Anrich Nortje, while youngster Dewald Brevis record 125 off just 56 balls against the Aussies showcased his potential.

Best of the Proteas

Best Player: Temba Bavuma

Best match: A thin line separating the WTC Final five-wicket victory over Australia at Lord’s with the epic 30-run win at Eden Gardens.

Best innings: Aiden Markram’s 136 at Lord’s to secure the WTC title edges out Kagiso Rabada’s 71 in Rawalpindi.

Most Valuable Player: Keshav Maharaj

Newcomer of the Year: Matthew Breetzke

Most Underrated Player: Senuran Muthusamy

Comeback of the Year: Quinton de Kock

Sportsmanship Award of the Year: Wiaan Mulder declaring on 367 not out 

Quote of the Year: “We wanted the Indians to spend as much time on their feet out in the field, we wanted them to really grovel, to steal a phrase, bat them completely out the game, and then say to them,'come and survive on the last day and an hour this evening.' - Proteas coach Shukri Conrad.