It was a Tough Decision to Leave out Bavuma Says Proteas Batting Coach

When Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ripping through the South African top order on the opening day of the opening Test at the Newlands in Cape Town, it looked like that the hosts will miss the services of Temba Bavuma who has shone especially when his team has been in trouble. When the Proteas were 12/3, Bavuma was perhaps missed the most as he is known to deliver whenever his team’s back is against the wall.

He has played some vital innings in crunch situations in 27 Test matches. However, with AB de Villiers back in the fold and with the return of regular skipper Faf du Plessis, it was always going to a selection dilemma for the skipper and the coach. The situation got complicated even more when the situation was dramatically in favor of the fast bowlers, and hence the hosts decide to go for an all-pace attack.

Bavuma who has a relatively mediocre Test record had to eventually carry the drinks as one extra bowler was played ahead of him. South African batting coach explained why the team management took the decision.

“With AB and Faf being back, then you’ve got a top six that all average over 40 in Test cricket. We wanted to go with a strong bowling attack and our best batters at this time and we just felt on that wicket as a group that that was the best team,” Benkenstein said.

However Benkenstein feels there is no doubt about the fact that Bavuma would go on to play many more Test matches and with AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, and Hashim Amla are expected to retire following the 2019 World Cup, Bavuma will become the most experienced middle order batsman for the Proteas.

“The positive side of it is that Temba is in great form. There is nothing wrong with the way he is playing, but it is a very strong batting unit,” Benkenstein said. “It was a tough decision.”

Now coming to the opening Test India will resume Day 2 at 28/3 still trailing South Arica by 258 runs in the 1^st innings. Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara are at the crease and if India is to harbor any chances of winning the match, then the 1^st hour and the 1^st session will be very crucial for the visitors.

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