South African skipper Temba Bavuma is on the cusp of making history ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia, starting on June 11 to 15 in the Lord's Stadium. While the odds are heavily stacked against him & South Africa, the diminutive right-hand batter is optimistic about beating the mighty Aussies and clinching their only second ICC Trophy. However, Bavuma, who is known to be a pretty cool customer, was not that cool seven months ago.
The 35-year-old was sulking and locked himself in the bathroom, worrying about his team's chances of going to smoke against Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test in 2024. At that match, South Africa were going steady with Aiden Markram and Bavuma at the crease. However, all hell broke loose when the former got out, and a few overs later, the latter was also dismissed. The Proteas needed to win that game to ensure a place WTC Final. The skipper's wicket brought Pakistan into the game, and suddenly, it seemed South Africa would botch up the run chase.
“I thought I’d nicked the ball,” he shrugs. “I didn’t even refer to it because maybe there was embarrassment at the shot I played. It was also the instinct to just walk. I thought the bowler had gotten the better of me, and I’d given away my wicket," Bavuma said to The Guardian.
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“I was locked in the bathroom, sulking at the shot that I played but also hearing the wickets falling. I was taking a lot of blame as it was a critical situation for the team. As the leader, I wanted to take the guys over the line so I was dealing with lots of emotions. But I kept hearing the cheers and saw that KG [Rabada] and Jansen weren’t in the changing room. When I peeked out, they were still battling and we needed just 15 runs.”
Temba Bavuma feels South Africa have made a roaring statement by reaching the WTC final
At the start of WTC Cycle 2023-25, nobody expected South Africa to reach the WTC Final. Every expert and fan predicted it either Australia, England, or India would reach the final. However, the Proteas stunned everyone and won seven games on the bounce to reach the summit clash. Temba Bavuma feels his side has made a roaring statement by reaching the final.
“Yes, definitely. We want to continue staking a claim as one of the top cricketing nations, but we can’t compete from an economic point of view. The only way we can compete is on the field. We would love to go the whole way and win because for us to be seen as an attractive nation, we’ve got to keep being competitive.”
Lastly, the Proteas skipper is quite confident about his side breaking the jinx of lifting the silverware for the first time since the late Hansie Cronje-led South Africa lifted in 1998. He believes South Africa has it in them to finally break the curse and give their legendary players a fitting tribute.
“I believe so. We shouldn’t forget that Graeme Smith’s team was World No 1 in 2012 but there wasn’t a Test championship then. In the last couple of years, we have been knocking on the door. We get into finals and semi-finals, and we’ve been relentless in pursuing something that’s been elusive to us – which is silverware. We’re going to keep knocking on the door and at some point, it has to open.”
