Temba Bavuma

A torch bearer for black cricketers in South Africa, history will remember Temba Bavuma as the first ever black South African cricketer to be appointed as the captain of the Proteas men and before that, as also the first black African cricketer to score a Test century for South Africa. A technically sound and classical right-handed batter, Bavuma isn't the most eye-catching batter going around, but despite his limitations, he has grown into one of South Africa’s most important players. The diminutive right-hander’s sturdy resolve is reflected in his batting style - possessing a solid defence, he puts a high value on his wicket and can be a tough cookie to dislodge.

Bavuma was mentored by Geoffrey Toyana - a former South Africa first-class cricketer - and made his first class debut for Gauteng in 2008. Just after three seasons, he was signed up by the Lions. He had a good second season and his consistent performances, led to him being made the vice captain of the team in 2013-14.

Having been in the top run-getters list for consecutive seasons, Bavuma finally got a chance for the national team when he was named in the squad for the West Indies Test series towards the end of 2014. He didn't have the best of starts as he scored 10 and 15 in his debut Test. However, he impressed skipper Amla with a half-century when he got his next chance in the middle of 2015 in Bangladesh.

The home series against England in late 2015 - early 2016 proved to be a breakthrough one for Bavuma as he solidified his place in the team with a ton at Cape Town. However, following this series, there were some criticisms of Bavuma that he didn't quite kick on from a star, a tag that sometimes follows him to present day. He sparkled with a couple of half-centuries later in the year in Australia without converting them into anything substantial, failed miserably against a visiting Sri Lanka, and then again showed some form in New Zealand with a couple more half-centuries.

Bavuma’s big breakthrough came in January 2016 when he scored his maiden Test hundred at Cape Town in the second Test to become the first black South African cricketer to score a Test century. A few months later in the same year, Bavuma struck a century on ODI debut in a game against Ireland and only became the second South African to do so.

While Bavuma remained on the fringes for a few years, the retirement of some of South Africa’s greats opened up opportunities and by 2019, he’d established himself as an all-format player. Cut to March 2021 and Bavuma made headlines again when he was appointed as South Africa’s limited-overs captain following Quinton de Kock’s departure from the role - making him the first ever black cricketer to be appointed as the permanent captain of the Proteas.

The following years saw Bavuma plagued by injuries, including a hamstring injury, a thumb injury and an elbow which injury meaning he found himself in and out of the setup repeatedly despite being the skipper. He led South Africa in the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup but was grossly out of form and this led to another notable moment in Bavuma’s career. Despite being the skipper of South Africa’s T20I team, Bavuma found no takers in the inaugural SA20 league, something that he admitted made him “feel let down and disappointed”.

By Cricbuzz Staff