Exclusive: Kyle Verreynne Poised for Sri Lanka Test Battle and World Test Championship Push

The Proteas are gearing up for a crucial two-Test series against Sri Lanka, with their sights firmly set on securing a spot in the ICC World Test Championship final. 

South Africa, currently ranked fifth, must win their remaining home Tests to remain in contention for the June 2025 final, a challenge wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and his teammates are embracing with determination.

Sri Lanka Test Series Preview

Verreynne has highlighted the strength of the visiting Sri Lankan side, who have shown resilience with recent overseas success, including a Test win in England and a series victory against New Zealand. While acknowledging the Proteas' home-ground advantage, Verreynne expects a hard-fought contest.

"They will be a really good side. Obviously we got our home conditions, which can be seen as an advantage. Sri Lanka after the last while have been a really good side, they beat England in one Test match in that series over there [in England]," Verreynne told SportsBoom.com. 

"They're coming with a bit of confidence playing overseas. Again, they have a good side and we are expecting it to be quite a hard fought series."

"Our recent performances against West Indies and Bangladesh [away fixtures] give us a lot of confidence and as a team we are in a good space. We are also fully aware of the capabilities of this Sri Lankan side and as I said it will be a challenging series."

Momentum from Bangladesh Series

Reflecting on South Africa's recent successes, Verreynne pointed to their solid performance in Bangladesh, where the Proteas won the series under challenging subcontinental conditions. His own contribution—a gritty century in the first Test—was a personal milestone.

"I am very happy with that [performance in Bangladesh] and going to sub-continent conditions for the first time, it was always going to be challenging. Especially in the first test the conditions when I came in, we were like 90-6 or something like that. Get a contribution in, its really nice especially a Test hundred in the sub [continent] its really special."

"Probably would've liked to have kicked on in the second test as well, a little disappointing on that part but looking at the broader picture going to the sub-continent and scoring a Test hundred and winning the Test series is special. I have taken a lot out of that tour and happy with how I performed."

Impact of captain Temba Bavuma

The return of captain Temba Bavuma, who missed the Bangladesh series due to injury, is a significant boost. Verreynne praised Bavuma's leadership and calm presence, both on and off the field.

"Temba has got a massive presence in the side. He has played over 50 Tests now and if you look at the last year or 2 or even 3 years, he has averaged over 50 in that period of time. He has been our best batter by a long way. Just the Test experience he has and learnings he offers the guys around dressing room has been really good."

"As a team, when he is on the field you get the sense of calmness. The aura that he brings to the environment. Even in Bangladesh, he didn't play at all but the calmness and level-headed approach he brought was awesome. It will really be nice to have him back on the park in this upcoming series, he offers a lot of value to us, especially with quite a young side. Really nice to have someone like him lead us"

Eyes on the World Test Championship

South Africa are currently in fifth position and need to win all the their home Test matches to stand a chance to feature in the ICC World Test Championship final in June 2025.

"If you go back to the West Indies Test series, Bangladesh and the two coming up now. We knew out of the eight games, we had to win a high percentage of the games to sort of put us in a good position. Up until now we have been ticking the boxes and we sitting in a position now where if we win the majority of our home Test matches we will probably qualify for the World Test Championship final which is a really exciting position to be in."

"We always we will take it game by game and day by day, that is the approach we are using. The message from the change room  is very clear, we want to get to World Test Championship final. It is going to take a lot of hard work and we will needed to follow the processes but the message is simple and we will do whatever it takes to get to that final. As things stand, we are on track to do that."

Test Squad mood post-T20 Series defeat

The Proteas suffered a heavy defeat in their last fixture against India a T20 series where they lost at home. The last T20 game they lost by a staggering 135 runs and losing the series 3-1 at home. Some of the players who featured in the India T20 series have been included in Sri Lanka Test series. Which begs the question, if the side is in a good space following the heavy defeat in the previous Proteas fixtures.

"To be honest, the Test environment is completely different [to T20 side], we have different coaching staff. Quite a few players were not part of that T20 series and we are aware what happened. There doesn't seem to be any baggage from that T20 series vs India. We just met up for camp now and it feels exactly how we left off in Bangladesh. Everyone seems like they are in a really good space and the very has been really good up until this point."

"As much as we want to see the T20 side do well, it doesn't really have too much of an effect in this space and what we trying to do as a red ball Test side."

This series presents an opportunity for the Proteas to maintain momentum, demonstrate their mettle, and strengthen their push toward the World Test Championship final.