Temba Bavuma, who hurt his elbow during the third ODI against Ireland in October, has been called back to lead the red-ball side in home Tests against Sri Lanka. Bavuma injured the same elbow he has been having issues with since 2022, however, he is reported to have recovered from the injury in time to take his captaincy reins from Aiden Markram for the two-match Test series. He last played a Test game in August against West Indies in away conditions, which was his first Test after he picked a hamstring strain during the Boxing Day Test last year.
Bavuma’s return is a major uplift for the Proteas, who have to spare no pain in their four remaining Test games in order to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. However, the skipper’s little to no preparation for the comeback remains one of South Africa’s worries. Shukri Conrad said that the management did not want to rush him back to the team last week to get him a game. As per the coach, the team will simulate match situations to ensure the skipper gets back in his groove.
“He’s probably going in cold in the back of not having played any matches but we’re certainly going to be simulating match situations during our short camp we’re going to have in Pretoria,” Shukri Conrad informed the media while announcing South Africa’s 14-member squad for red-ball series against Sri Lanka. “His fitness test was always going to be yesterday (Monday, November 18) and then it would just be too close to a four-day match and too close to the Test match (for him to play a game). If we had asked him to or forced him to play last week, I think it could have been detrimental. And I don’t think there was anything to gain from that.”
The right-handed batter was assessed to check whether he experienced any pain in his left elbow when he struck the ball. Apparently, what ruled Bavuma out of the Test games versus Bangladesh was this very pain.
“The concern was the impact on striking the ball and if there was any pain associated with that. That was still the case when we were in Bangladesh, which then ruled him out of the second Test there. So, it included a battery of tests,” Conrad said.
However, the 90-minute assessment cleared him of any doubts, hence the management gave a green signal for Bavuma’s return to the side.
“There was the fitness side of things, the aerobic stuff with the running and doing all of that. We had our high-performance lead, Tumi Masekela, there. And then, also, he had an hour-and-a-half of batting with quick bowlers. He had a throw-down net with (fielding coach) Kruger van Wyk and a couple of throwers there as well. He got through that really well; unscathed and there was absolutely no pain. We felt that on the back of that, he could be cleared to play.”
Barring Lungi Ngidi (injured) and Anrich Nortje (opted out of red-ball cricket), South Africa have brought in many of their regular quicks including Gerald Coetzee, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Dane Paterson.
That South Africa have to play this all-important against Sri Lanka, who are currently at No. 3 in the WTC table just below Australia and India, speaks volumes about the difficult task that lies ahead for the Proteas. The two-match Test series will begin on November 27 in Durban.
South Africa squad for Test series against Sri Lanka
Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton and Kyle Verreynne
