"Looking Forward To Temba Bavuma Coming Back Next Week"- South Africa Head Coach Rob Walter Ahead Of Campaign Opener
Published - 30 Sep 2023, 02:03 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:19 AM
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma is expected to join the squad by next week ahead of the team’s ICC World Cup 2023 campaign opener against Sri Lanka on October 7 in Delhi.
Bavuma is back home for personal reasons and is not available for the warm-up games. Aiden Markram will be leading the side in his absence. South Africa’s first warm-up game against Afghanistan in Thiruvananthapuram was washed out due to rain. Their next warm-up game is against New Zealand on October 2.
Temba Bavuma Has Played A Lot Recently: Rob Walter
Meanwhile, South Africa head coach Rob Walter spoke to the reporters and said that he will join the squad next week.
“Temba’s is a personal situation and he left the team due to personal reasons and we are looking forward to him coming back next week. So, the impact (of his absence) on the team will be negligible. A guy like Temba has played a lot and has scored recently, so I am not worried about him personally,” Walter said.
Bavuma scored a century in the first ODI against Australia. He picked up an inner thigh muscle strain and was rested from the fourth ODI as a precautionary measure. In the fifth ODI, he scored a two-ball duck.
Walter further spoke about the team’s preparations for the World Cup after reaching India. Despite the rained-out game against Afghanistan, the coach believes that playing on five different venues and different ground conditions has served them well in terms of preparations.
“The fortunate part of the South Africa series was the fact that we were exposed to five different pitches – right from the very first game in Bloemfontein till the end. That stands us in good stead. At the end of the day, we will have to respond to the conditions in front of you, have a skill set that matches the needs of the game and execute it,” Walter said.
“For us, it will be about reading the pitches and trying to understand what they need for us to do. It’s never great to miss game time, but fortunately, we played just recently. We are in a good position,” the coach concluded saying.
