Temba Bavuma has responded after he was seemingly caught sleeping during the 2023 World Cup captain’s media day on the eve of the tournament opener.

The South Africa captain was pictured with his eyes shut and his head resting on his chest during a press conference today (October 5). He was alongside the nine other World Cup captains answering media questions the day before the tournament gets underway. Seated in between Kane Williamson and Dasun Shanaka, Bavuma appeared to have taken a rest inbetween responding to journalists.

The momentary lapse didn’t go unnoticed, with the Barmy Army posting a picture of a drowsy-looking Bavuma on their X (formerly Twitter) account soon after, with the caption: “Temba Bavuma has just fallen asleep in the World Cup captain’s conference.”

Despite seemingly damning evidence, Bavuma responded to the post to protest his innocence. He replied: “I blame the camera angle, I wasn’t sleeping.”

I blame the camera angle, I wasn’t sleeping 🤦🏽‍♂️

— Temba Bavuma (@TembaBavuma) October 4, 2023

There was some criticism on social media of the press conference being too focussed on questions directed at Babar Azam and Rohit Sharma, contributing to Bavuma not being fully engaged in the conversation. However, Bavuma was asked to give his thoughts on how his side’s previous experiences playing in India could help during the tournament.

– Only 40 minutes of captain’s meet-up
– No captains were being equally involved
– Full of India vs Pakistan match questions
– Tenda Bavuma is sleeping (rightly so)
– No opening ceremony as well for this World Cup.

What a boring event comes to an end. #CWC23

A foreign… pic.twitter.com/N6kmRsuHWN

— Saif Ahmed 🇧🇩 (@saifahmed75) October 4, 2023

“I think all we could do is for the guys who have that experience and knowledge; they can share it among the team or use it in terms of our strategies and plans,” Bavuma said. “But I wouldn’t really say it’s an advantage unique to us as a team.”

Bavuma did not feature in either of South Africa’s practice match for the tournament, having had to fly home from India for personal reasons. South Africa will begin their campaign against Sri Lanka on Saturday, October 7 in Delhi.

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