"I want to make sure we are in top shape heading into the T20 World Cup" - South Africa's Captain Temba Bavuma
South African captain Temba Bavuma is focused on helping the team put on a good show against India in the upcoming T20I series and the 2022 T20 World Cup. South African captain Temba Bavuma said he won’t be too worried about all the outside noise around him ahead of the upcoming T20I three-match series against India. ICC T20 World Cup 2022 fans can buy India Vs South Africa Tickets from our website.
South Africa arrived in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from Dubai in the early hours of Sunday 25 September, to take on host nation India, who recently defeated Australia 2-1 in their three-game T20I series at home. Speaking about the tour, the skipper said he will be back in shape after an injury hit.
Bavuma opens the India series
Temba Bavuma was rejected from the recent SA 20 auction because none of the franchises showed enough interest to follow him. In addition, the player sustained an elbow injury that kept him out of the recent England tour but is looking forward to getting back into shape against India.
“My focus is on the team. I still have the captaincy role which is to lead and serve the team. My focus is on the World Cup and making sure we are in the best space to be in that game and everything else, I try not to give it too much focus and energy. Right now I just want to serve the team as much as possible,” Bavuma said in a press conference ahead of the first T20I.
“I’m here to make sure these guys are in the best possible space for that big World Cup game. All the other distractions, juggling, are things I deal with on a personal level. But in the team, as long as I have this jersey and that is serving and leading the team,” he added.
The captain further emphasized that management will fill the void within the team during the series. This will provide enough balance for the 2022 T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October and November.
“This is our last series before the World Cup. We will try to fill any gaps within the team, we have a lot of players playing cricket so we will try to control their intensity. We have some people who need some cricket “We will try to give them a chance,” said the South African captain.
Temba Bavuma fights against the uncontrollable sea
Temba Bavuma last played for South Africa in Rajkot three months ago. He was hit hard in the shoulder by the Bhuvneshwar Kumar jack and later injured his elbow while diving to finish the run. He retired due to injury and an elbow injury kept him out of the next South African tour, heading to England.
Bavuma is now back, back in India and back in the leading South African T20I side. However, the world around him is not the same.
In a three-game T20I series against England, Rilee Rossouw managed to return to international cricket after six years of Kolpak’s exile, going unbeaten with 55 overs and 96 overs in the second T20I in Cardiff, and 18 in the next match. 31 goals followed at Southampton.
Meanwhile, Reeza Hendricks scored half a century in each of three games against England, followed by 74 and 42 in two innings against Ireland in Bristol.
Hendricks, Quinton de Kock and Rossouw are South Africa’s top three picks against England, with Rassie van der Dussen replacing Rossouw against Ireland.
Van der Dussen missed this Tour of India and the subsequent T20 World Cup through injury. But Bavuma is back and South Africa still has four contenders for three top positions. T20 World Cup 2022 fans can buy ICC T20 World Cup Tickets from our website.
De Kock
Bavuma is their captain and de Kock is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. That means Hendricks or Rosso will have to sit out unless South Africa rest their first-choice players.
It’s a difficult situation and one that would put Bavuma’s character in the spotlight. He’s used to censorship, but that doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable.
Bavuma has a reputation for captaincy as he holds the second-best record of all captains, leading South Africa at least 10 times in the T20I. At last year’s T20 World Cup, he played a key role in leading the team. Through turbulent times after de Kock refused to kneel for the game against the West Indies.
It felt like the team would collapse immediately after the incident; instead. They won four of their five games and missed the semifinals simply. Because of their net run rate, and managed to reintegrate a repentant de Kock.
So it’s no surprise that when South Africa picks their roster for this year’s tournament in Australia. They are reiterating their confidence in Bavuma’s leadership.
Temba Bavuma
But is he worth the choice purely as a batter? The question has stuck with Bavuma throughout his international career, often in a suggestive tone, and mostly unjustified. As he has always had the foundation of skills and temperament upon which a successful test career is built.
However, when Bavuma was not yet a white batter, he became a white captain. While his ODI record can withstand scrutiny, his T20 numbers aren’t huge. His absence from the SA20 auction was due to poor visibility and raised several questions – what does it mean to have no transition goals for an ostensibly domestic tournament in South Africa deserves a separate post.
But you could argue that a strike rate of 124.67 after 100 and no second ability unless you count his athletic ability within 30 yards leave him open to that possibility.
SA20 team owners (all of whom have teams in the IPL) could argue. That ignoring Bavuma is no different than ignoring Cheteshwar Pujara in an IPL auction.
But Pujara was not the captain of the national team at T20Is.
Bavuma did and in addition to meeting all the other demands of the job. He faced an endless schedule of press conferences. Less than a week ago, he spoke in a speech about his disappointment. That he had not been selected for SA20. On the eve of his first T20I match in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. He was asked if he felt he had more to prove than usual ahead of this series and the World Cup.
“I’m trying to put all these things behind me,” Bavuma said. “As I’ve said before, the role I’m most focused on is the one I play, which is to lead and serve the team to the best of my ability and make sure the players are in the best position to play. another meddling, all that other juggling, those are things that I personally deal with, but right now, here, on the team, as long as I’m still wearing that shirt, it’s about leading and serving the team to the best of my ability .”
That’s all he can do, a relatively manageable man in an uncontrollable sea, as his cricketing life has often been.
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