Despite having been around for just a little over five years, Temba Bavuma has risen to become a lynchpin of the South African middle order, and it appears that growing as quickly as he has comes with its share of perks.
While we don’t know yet how it impacts the say he has on the field – although he was in the running to become Faf du Plessis’ successor as South Africa captain – he certainly does appear to enjoy some benefits off it.
@tbavuma10 blatantly CHEATING!!! @andileluck19 he’s using senior powers to change the decision….HONESTY CALL??? ??♂️?
— Lungi Ngidi (@NgidiLungi) March 15, 2020
Lungi Ngidi found out as much when the touring South Africans decided to let off some steam with some kick volleyball, as they wait to return home in the aftermath of the cancellation of their India tour. With no serious cricket in sight in the immediate future, the Proteas had a day of fun and games.
At least it all seemed to be fun until players of both sides got into an argument over what seemed to be a contention over a net ball. And if Ngidi is to be believed, Bavuma was using his “senior powers” to “change the decision.”
[caption id=”attachment_137287″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]"="" powers="" during="" a="" day="" of="" fun="" and="" games"="" width="768px" height="432px" srcset="http://wisden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GettyImages-1204003620-e1581095655684.jpg 1024w, http://wisden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GettyImages-1204003620-e1581095655684-600x343.jpg 600w, http://wisden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GettyImages-1204003620-e1581095655684-300x172.jpg 300w, http://wisden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GettyImages-1204003620-e1581095655684-768x440.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px"> Temba Bavuma came in for some flak after “abusing” powers during a day of fun and games[/caption]
“Temba Bavuma blatantly cheating,” Ngidi wrote on Twitter, in response to a video of the incident shared by Cricket South Africa. Roping Andile Phehlukwayo into the conversation, Ngidi added: “He’s using his senior powers to change the decision. Honesty call?”
Phehlukwayo seemed to concur with Ngidi’s statement, saying Bavuma was “abusing”.
We don’t know which way that eventually went, but there isn’t much you can do if a senior player in the side says night is day, can you? Also, “honesty call” and “senior powers” seem like catchy jargons that need to be added to the volleyball rulebook.
