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Marco Jansen and Bavuma Returns to Lead South Africa's Push for WTC Final Spot
Marco Jansen and Bavuma Returns to Lead South Africa's Push for WTC Final Spot
Temba Bavuma is back to lead the side after being out with an elbow injury.
After recovering from the elbow injury and now all set to play for the two tests against Sri Lanka as South Africa wants to make their place in the WTC Final. South Africa’s captain Bavuma couldn’t play any match since October 4, as he hurt himself diving to reach the crease during an ODI against Ireland in Abu Dhabi.
Like that, he also had to miss the Lion's opening two first-class fixtures and will not be able to be involved in the third one as well, from Sunday with the face-off Western Province at the Wanderers, as South Africa is decided to go in a two-day camp in Pretoria on the existing day. For the next test on Wednesday, they will leave for Durban on Saturday.
When Bavuma steps out for the toss, he will have gone over seven weeks without playing any competitive cricket and more than three months since his last Test match, which was against West Indies in Guyana in August. He missed last month’s Tests in Bangladesh, where South Africa won 2-0 under Aiden Markram's captaincy.
By taking up a press conference on Tuesday head coach Shkri Conrad made a statement that Temba is heading into the series without any recent match practice, but we’ll create match-like situations during our camp to help him prepare. Players who achieve and gain by playing a four-day match, he thinks that he can achieve that all in two days of their camp only. That’s why he doesn’t think that he is really important if Bavuma hasn’t been able to play any domestic matches.
"His fitness test was always planned for yesterday, which was too close to the first Test for him to play a four-day match. If we had pushed him to play last week, it might have done more harm than good, and there was nothing to gain from it," he added.
He also said that Bavuma had successfully able to pass the fitness test that included knowing about his elbow conditions along with the aerobic conditioning along with flying colours. The main concern is to see if there is any effect on the joint while striking the ball if there is as the same happens in Bangladesh that brings him out of the match. He spent about an hour and a half batting against fast bowlers and in a throw-down net. He came through it without any issues or pain.
Bavuma is a controversial figure in South African cricket. His critics, many of whom are influenced by racism, highlight that he has scored only two centuries in his 101 Test innings and argue that he bats too slowly in ODIs, where his strike rate is 88.71. On the other hand, his supporters, some of whom focus too much on his race, point out that he has scored 21 Test half-centuries, often in tough conditions, and that since his debut against the West Indies in December 2014, only Dean Elgar has scored more runs for South Africa.
Conrad was definitely one of the Bavuma fans as he said he is very thrilled getting Temba back. He is just like a Toy’s shop kid as he is not able to played any cricket fom a while. It really necessary to have him in the team. When he signed him he signed him as a captain and they have worked very well together.
Also back in the squad are Kagiso Rabada, who was rested for the T20I series against India that ended on Friday, and Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee, who both returned to international cricket in the India series after conditioning breaks. Jansen and Coetzee last played Tests in January and December against India.
Coetzee briefly left the field for three overs after injuring his hamstring during the fourth T20I at the Wanderers on Friday. However, he returned and bowled an over afterward. "It was a bit concerning seeing Gerald walk off the field," Conrad said. "But he had scans yesterday, and everything is fine."
Conrad’s decision to use a camp in Pretoria, rather than playing competitive cricket, to prepare for the series in Bangladesh's unfamiliar conditions worked well before. So, he feels confident in using the same approach now: "The bowlers will do at least three spells a day and spend enough time on their feet. We're confident we can get everything from this two-day camp that the players would have gotten from a four-day match." He even believes it might be more effective: "In a four-day game, a player could get out on the first ball. Then what? Or the opposition might be all out quickly, and a bowler doesn’t get the spells he wanted."
The series against India in December and January was South Africa's most recent home Test series, and it was also Dean Elgar's last before his retirement. Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger, who played in that series, are both out due to injuries. The players who have missed out on selection compared to that series are Keegan Petersen and Zubayr Hamza. Ryan Rickelton, Dane Paterson, and Senuran Muthusamy have been included in the 14-man squad, which is one player fewer than usual. This reduction, according to Conrad, is to "allow players on the periphery of selection the opportunity to play first-class cricket for their respective provincial teams."
If South Africa wins both Tests against Sri Lanka and the two they will play at home against Pakistan in December and January, they will qualify for the WTC final at Lord's in June.
South Africa is currently ranked fifth in the standings, with Sri Lanka in third. Australia leads by 4.17 percentage points, and only 4.16 percentage points separate the teams from second to fifth place.
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