How quickly it can change in sports. And in the last few weeks, we have all been reminded of this again, thanks to the amazing batting form of Temba Bavuma. It wasn’t long before Bavuma was in the doldrums, failing to score, being overlooked more than once (for the first time) in the SA20 player auction and all the questions being asked about his form and fitness to play in South Africa. . A change of fortune But a quality 109-run knock in an ODI against England in late January saw Bavuma snapped up by Sunrisers Eastern…
How quickly it can change in sports.
And in the last few weeks, we have all been reminded of this again, thanks to the amazing batting form of Temba Bavuma.
It wasn’t long before Bavuma was in the doldrums, failing to score, being overlooked more than once (for the first time) in the SA20 player auction and all the questions being asked about his form and fitness to play in South Africa. .
Change of fortune
But a quality 109-run knock in an ODI against England at the end of January saw Bavuma snapped up by the Eastern Cape Sunrisers for the final stages of the SA20 and he never looked back.
It’s a far cry from the situation Bavuma found himself in at the T20 World Cup in Australia last year when everyone was calling for his head.
Of course, his T20 form was poor and he stepped down as the team leader when Rob Walter stepped in as the white-ball coach.
But what a revelation it has been in ODI and Test cricket…when the burden of captaining a T20 team is lifted from his shoulders.
Bavuma has since registered the highest Test score of 172 and the highest ODI score of 144. He has become the mainstay of the Proteas batting lineup, something naysayers would not have predicted when he returned.
READ ALSO: ‘My mind is clearer’: Confident captain Bavuma is back to his best
His batting has been at the highest level and only for a record that is still in doubt, only Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen (21 innings each) have reached 1,000 ODIs faster than Bavuma (23 innings).
The South African ODI and Test captain has done well and matured with the criticism leveled at him last year, perhaps admitting that he is not fit for T20 cricket (although he has now been recalled to the Proteas T20 side due to his hot form), by showing all his class in other formats and as a leader.
At 32, Bavuma is no spring chicken, but hopefully he still has a few years of cricket left in him.
When one considers how brittle the Proteas batting lineup is at times it is good to know Bavuma is there and the glue that holds it together.
May the little man bat in, and the big bat.