Temba Bavuma OUT of the 1st ODI vs Afghanistan; South Africa name captaincy replacement

South Africa have suffered a big blow ahead of the first ODI against South Africa at Sharjah. Skipper Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the opening match of the series. Aiden Markram will lead the Proteas in Bavuma's absence.

Temba Bavuma is South Africa's captain in Tests and ODIs. He has led South Africa in 32 ODIs so far in which they have won 18 and lost 13 matches. One match ended in a no result. Under his leadership, South Africa made it to the ODI World Cup semi-finals last year but lost to Australia.

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Temba Bavuma ruled out of 1st ODI against Afghanistan

The first ODI between Afghanistan and South Africa will be played on September 18 at the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Temba Bavuma's absence from the first ODI was confirmed by Cricket South Africa (CSA) who claimed that Bavuma has been ruled out due to illness.

UPDATE!

Proteas One-Day International (ODI) captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the first ODI against Afghanistan on Wednesday, 18 September due to illness.

Aiden Markram will be the stand-in captain.#WozaNawe #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/5mnr1lDOWy

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) September 17, 2024

Temba Bavuma will be a big miss for the visiting team who were banking on his experience. The right-hander is a good player of spin and could have been useful on the spin-friendly surface in Sharjah.

The ODI format also suits the batting style of Bavuma. He has an excellent record in the format as he has scored 1512 runs in 38 ODIs so far at an average of 45.81 and a strike rate of 89.04. His conversion rate is excellent as he has scored 5 hundreds and 4 fifties so far.

However, it is a surprise that Temba Bavuma has played just 38 ODIs so far despite making his ODI debut way back in 2016. Although he has been ruled out of this match, he is expected to be back for the second ODI which will be played on September 20 on the same ground.

Aiden Markram to lead South Africa in 1st ODI

In Bavuma's absence, South Africa's stand-in captain in Tests and ODIs, Aiden Markram, will lead the team. Markram has led the Proteas in 12 ODIs in which they have won 6 ODIs and lost 6. However, he is a seasoned captain and also the one for the future in this format.

Aiden Markram is also South Africa's current T20I captain. Under his leadership, South Africa were brilliant in the T20 World Cup 2024, making it to their maiden ICC tournament final.

However, they suffered a heartbreaking loss to India in the final by 7 runs. Despite being in a dominant position, South Africa were unable to finish off the game. South Africa had not lost a single game in the tour until the final.

Schedule for ODI series between Afghanistan and South Africa

The ODI series between South Africa and Afghanistan will be played from September 18-22. While the first two ODIs will be played on September 18, the last ODI of the series will take place on September 22. All the matches will be played in Sharjah.

With Afghanistan posing a significant challenge to opposition teams in recent days, expect them to be tough to beat for the Proteas. Afghanistan have seen a rise in their cricket in the last few days.

They reached their maiden ICC trophy semi-finals (Senior) in the T20 World Cup 2024 where they eventually lost to South Africa comprehensively by 9 wickets. That was the last match played between these two sides.