Proteas captain Temba Bavuma is in lockstep with coach Rob Walter’s squad-building strategy, but his nascent competitive drive won’t accept losing as part of that process.
Bavuma will lead the South African team in a One Day International (ODI) for the first time since last year’s World Cup semifinal, when his team tackle Afghanistan in the first of three matches in Sharjah on Wednesday.
“I understand the bigger picture in terms of widening the depth in the team. In the same vein, from a competitor’s point of view, winning is the main thing,” said Bavuma. “That is why we train. That, at least, is something I will be stressing within the team, we can’t allow our standards and level of excellence to drop.”
Walter, the Proteas limited-overs coach, with the backing of director of cricket Enoch Nkwe, has been content with resting the country’s star players from bilateral series, prioritising performance at ICC events instead.
Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen and Keshav Maharaj are missing the trip to the UAE, where in addition to Afghanistan, the Proteas will also play Ireland in T20s and One-Day Internationals.
With Nkwe and Walter wanting a pool of 60 players by the time of the 2027 World Cup, the door has been opened for several new names to stake a claim for permanent berths. Leg-spinner Nqaba Peter, all-rounders Jason Smith and Andile Simelane are among the rookies that travelled to the UAE yesterday.
“Even with all the experimenting we’re doing, we have to make sure we are still prioritising the results,” Bavuma emphasised.
Afghanistan showed at last year’s World Cup, where they won four matches, including an historic triumph against England, that in the right conditions, they are a handful. However, Walter wants the new players to be exposed to uncomfortable situations, believing that kind of pressure will stand them in good stead for the stress they could face at a World Cup.
The next big ICC event is the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in February — an eight-team competition that has been restored to the international calendar for the first time since 2017.
Aside from Quinton de Kock — who retired from the ODI format after the World Cup in India — Bavuma expects a similar playing group to head to Pakistan early in 2025. “I don’t think the team will look too different. It’s only Quinny who is gone, so it’s about replacing him with another opener, and we have options from that point of view. We have Heinrich Klaasen who can do the job behind the stumps,” he said.
Bavuma included Anrich Nortjé among the list of fast bowlers who are candidates for that tournament. Nortje chose not to sign a full-time contract with Cricket SA but is open to playing for the Proteas if approached, as was the case for this year’s T20 World Cup.
Besides the matches on the current tour, the Proteas have three ODIs on home soil against Pakistan, and at least two matches in Pakistan before the Champions Trophy, to get themselves ready for that tournament.
Bavuma, whose last ODI was the semifinal defeat to Australia in Kolkota last November, is excited about donning coloured clothing again. “It’s been a while since I played so, selfishly for me, it’s about reassimilating into white ball cricket, getting my form, timing and everything going again,” he said.
“I want to get the team heading in the right direction, the right momentum flowing, and then in the Pakistan series [in December], we will have a better idea when all the guys are back from being rested. That will start giving us a clearer direction for what the Champions Trophy side will look like.”
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