South Africa were told 'they don't care' about Test cricket. Then 'the rainbow nation' showed the world who they are

There's three quotes that are poignant when it comes to South Africa's World Test Championship final.

They came from three legends; Shaun Pollock, Steve Waugh and Virat Kohli.

Waugh's was a criticism, Kohli's was thoughtful and Pollock's was beautiful.

READ MORE: South Africa shed chokers tag as Aussies crumble in final

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READ MORE: Star sheds tears in stirring interview with South African icon

All three showed the power of Test cricket.

'They don't care'

The Proteas copped it from everywhere when they selected an under-strength side to tour New Zealand last year.

Waugh was the strongest of critics.

"Obviously they don't care," he said at the time before suggesting the ICC needed to step in to preserve Test cricket.

Speaking to The Age, SAT20 League commissioner and former Test captain, Graeme Smith was disappointed by the comments.

Smith's main gripe was his claim Waugh hadn't contacted him for context.

"These things are a little more complicated behind the scenes, they're not always simple. I know how it happened. It was in the calendar before things moved on, things got squashed, and you ended up with a bit of a mess," he said.

"I respect Steve, and I respect his opinion, but sometimes guys must take the opportunity to ask and figure out ... I've played 117 Tests and been captain of our team. I know, no matter how we feel about the future of Test cricket, we hope it remains intact for more than five or six teams and there's an opportunity to keep it strong. But we know T20 is the growth into the future, with the Olympics, developing the game. To develop this product, CSA has had to take one or two tough decisions."

Fast forward to now, and South Africa are World Test champions.

It's an incredible rise from that New Zealand tour, where they were wrote off as a future Test nation.

That brings to mind South Africa's path to the final. They copped it for that too.

Across the two-year cycle, here's what happened.

• 1-1 draw against India at home
• 0-2 loss against New Zealand away
• 1-0 win against the West Indies away
• 2-0 win against Bangladesh away
• 2-0 win against Sri Lanka at home
• 2-0 win against Pakistan at home

It was described as an easy draw by some, considering there was no series against Australia or England.

But South Africa played what was in front of them, and their players didn't forget the criticism after winning the final.

"We deserve to get into this position," Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said.

"People were saying we weren't playing good enough opposition (during the World Test Championship cycle), but I think that's rubbish. We came here and we played the best team.

"Australia have been magnificent all season, and we had to be on our A-game to beat them."

Temba Bavuma had his say too.

"We got ourselves into the final. There were doubts as to the route that we took, supposedly playing weaker teams. We're happy that we were able to perform like this, and hopefully that kind of squashes that," he said.

"For us as a country, as divided as we are at times, to forget all of that, rejoice in this moment and just be one. I'm sure the people back home will be celebrating it with us, and you can trust that we'll be celebrating it massively as well."

'How much I value Test cricket'

When Virat Kohli won the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he ended a nearly two decade long wait for the club.

It was an incredible achievement.

But his post-match comments, reflected where it stands.

"You know, this moment is right up there with the best moments I've had in my career," he said.

"But it still marks five levels under Test cricket. That's how much I value Test cricket. And that's how much I love Test cricket."

It puts into context how important Test cricket is.

Australia's recent Test series against India was box office. The Ashes promises to be even more exciting.

Interest in the World Test Championship seemed mixed. The fact it was only on Amazon caused frustration in Australia, despite the fact a free trial was on offer.

But then South Africa won, and the value of the format was on full display.

Temba Bavuma had his hands in his head on the Lord's balcony as his team celebrated behind him. Then the pictures of him with his son post-match were heart-warming.

Keshav Maharaj cried post-game when interviewed by Graeme Smith.

In the next interview, Proteas coach Shukri Conrad channeled his inner Corey Worthington and wouldn't take his glasses off due to the tears.

Then there was Aiden Markram sinking beers with the crowd.

It was raw emotion and something only Test cricket can produce.

Post-match, Markram admitted the red-ball format is his "most important and most favourite format".

"It's really important, in my opinion, to keep Test cricket as the No.1 (format) in South Africa. We understand all the dynamics happening in the cricket world, and that's completely fair but it's more about the young guy coming through, that his main thing is to get a Test match baggy and play Test match cricket for South Africa," he said.

"... if we can get back with the younger people playing cricket, we've done well."

'Singing and dancing in the streets of South Africa, the rainbow nation'

With around six runs to win, Ian Smith wanted to leave the microphone to Shaun Pollock for the rest of the chase.

Pollock didn't want to just yet. The suspense was clear.

The former South African captain has seen it all before.

Since 1992, South Africa had been in major tournaments and never won.

He claimed five wickets in THAT 1999 World Cup semi-final when it was tied after a late run out.

South Africa have had the choker tag for over three decades, and for good reason.

Temba Bavuma even revealed in his post-match press conference that the choke tag had been used as a sledge.

"Playing against Australia is a bit different in the last couple of years, they're not as vocal out on the field. They're still aggressive through their body language and their skill but there's not a lot of chat. Of course the tag of us being chokers, that came about," he said.

"This morning, one of their players threw out the fact we could lose our eight wickets in less than 60 runs, I definitely heard that.

"Aiden (Markram) kept using the word lock in, after every over (he said) let's keep locking in, let's give them nothing.

"After the first innings' (from both sides), what we said as a team is all we need is a sniff and once we got that sniff and we were done with our bowling, we were hellbent on not giving away that advantage or that opportunity.

"Not a lot of chat (from Australia), just one or two things that were said."

South Africa stood strong though and when Kyle Verreynne hit the winning runs, it was over to Pollock.

And he nailed it.

"The biggest opposition in Australia, they've given us so much heartache over the years, but now the exclamation mark of an ICC event, they have stood tall and ended up victorious," he said.

"They will be singing and dancing in the streets of South Africa, the rainbow nation."

Test cricket. Forever undefeated.