Revealed: Why is Temba Bavuma not playing today's match against England and who has replaced him?

South Africa suffered a huge blow before their final group-stage match against England in the Champions Trophy. Skipper Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the match and Aiden Markam is leading the team in his absence.

Temba Bavuma is a vital player in South Africa's batting line-up alongside being the captain of the team. He is replaced by the talented batter Tristan Stubbs in the Playing XI.

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Why is Temba Bavuma not playing today's match against England?

Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the match due to illness. He is replaced by Tristan Stubbs, who will also open the batting in this match. Stubbs is a high-class player but hasn't get a chance in this tournament so far as Proteas have a world-class batting line-up.

Along with Bavuma, opener Tony de Zorzi also suffered an illness and is not playing this game. Wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen comes in his place after recovering from an elbow injury that kept him out of the first match against Afghanistan.

Temba Bavuma is South Africa's captain in Tests and ODIs and is seen as one of the premier batters in the team. He plays spin well and has the ability to play a long innings. His absence in this game was announced by Aiden Markram, who is leading South Africa in this match.

Bavuma has good ODI numbers with 1792 runs in 47 matches at an average of 43.68 and a strike rate of 88.05 with 5 hundreds and 6 fifties. He scored a valiant half-century against Afghanistan which helped South Africa cross the 300-run mark.

Excellent opportunity for Tristan Stubbs

While Temba Bavuma is not playing this game, it presents a superb opportunity for Tristan Stubbs to stake a claim in the Playing XI. Stubbs is regarded as the future of South Africa's batting and has loads of potential to destroy any attack.

However, South Africa's full-strength batting line-up ensures that he didn't get a chance in the Playing XI in the initial games. Stubbs is usually a middle order batter who plays spin well and can be destructive towards the end.

However, with Bavuma and De Zorzi unavailable, he will open the batting against England at Karachi. Stubbs will open alongside Ryan Rickelton, who struck a magnificent century against Afghanistan earlier in the tournament.

South Africa looking to confirm qualification

South Africa started the Champions Trophy 2025 campaign with a brilliant victory over Afghanistan. While batting first, they scored 315-6 on the back of a century from Ryan Rickelton and fifties from Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, and Aiden Markram.

In reply, Afghanistan were bowled out cheaply for just 208 runs. Rahmat Shah scored a fine 90 off 92 deliveries but it wasn't enough to take his team to a win. The big margin of victory has put South Africa in a position of ascendancy and they will be aiming to defeat England to keep up with their winning momentum.