Exclusive: Muthusamy Eyes World Test Championship Glory as Proteas Build for the Future

Senuran Muthusamy reflects on his return to international cricket and the potential of the upcoming summer.

Another ICC final within reach

South African cricket has made great strides in ICC events, and although the top step of the podium continues to elude them, the three finals in the last two years in both the men's and women's T20 tournaments and the semi-finals of the men's One Day International World Cup’s show a lot of progress.

The men’s Test team has always been the more consistent side in comparison to the white-ball teams in recent times, even though they have lost some key members of the team due to retirements.

Since taking over, Shukri Conrad seems to have found the winning formula through his youthful side, and they have all the tools and talent to build a team for the ages and remain competitive with the top Test-playing nations.

Short term, Temba Bavuma’s side are within reach of their first World Test Championship (WTC) final set to be played at the iconic Lords Cricket Ground in the United Kingdom in June next year.

History will not count

The Proteas have a fairly straightforward task ahead of them, and they need to beat both Pakistan and Sri Lanka to once again be in contention for a final of an ICC tournament.

The expectation heading into the series with Sri Lanka could be for South Africa to have the edge, but considering that Sri Lanka took a clean sweep (2-0) series victory back to the Island of Dharma the last time they toured South Africa, there will be very few guarantees.

Spinning all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy made a return to the side during the Bangladesh tour, and he immediately hit the ground running with both bat and ball, helping the Proteas to a 2-0 series win against the Tigers.

The left-arm orthodox spinner told Sportsboom.com that he is happy to be back in national colours and believes the WTC is within reach for South Africa.

“It was fantastic to get back in to the Test squad, and it is an awesome space at the moment, and moving ahead, it will be all about taking care of that.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed Bangladesh and the subcontinent; it was a fantastic experience, and I am just really grateful to have been able to put in a good performance for the team to help us win that series 2-0.”

“We are in a fantastic position with regards to the WTC; we know what we need to do; we’ll just take it game by game against both Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“It is a fantastic position to be in, and we will follow our processes and deal with what is in front of us. We look forward to that challenge.”

Home ground advantage

Muthusamy played most of his cricket in Durban for the Dolphins, and he is currently playing for the Warriors in Gqeberha. 

The 30-year-old scored an unbeaten 68 and picked up five wickets in the series clinching innings and 273 runs win against Bangladesh last month, and he credits his hard work for the balance he has with both bat and ball.

“I do put a lot of time and effort into my batting as well as my bowling, and its fantastic to be able to contribute in all departments of cricket, and that is where I feel my value lies within the team.”

“I have played a lot of cricket for the Dolphins for quite a few years, and I have recently joined the Warriors, but I suppose it will not really have any preconceived ideas of how the conditions are going to play.”

“That sort of thing we will deal with when we get there after we see the pitch that we are going to play on and conditions. We know our conditions well, and we are looking forward to their challenge.”

The impact of Shukri Conrad and the team environment

“Shukri has been instrumental in my development and in helping me be myself in the Test team, and the group as a whole has been a fantastic environment to be a part of, and that is credit to the coach for lining things up well and setting up the group as he wants it.”

“The guys are able to be themselves and are able to contribute in different ways and add value. A lot of guys have moved their careers forward and developed nicely under his leadership, and the results have shown that we are in a really good space.”