‘Not 100 per cent fit’ – Should Temba Bavuma have played despite fitness concerns?
Temba Bavuma has come under criticism for making himself available for the ICC ODI World Cup semi-final against Australia despite admitting that he was not a 100 per cent fit.
The South Africa captain had had a quiet tournament on an individual level coming into the semi-final, failing to pass fifty in any of his first seven appearances. In the semi-final, Bavuma fell for a duck, nicking off to Mitchell Starc off the final delivery of the opening over.
Had Bavuma missed out, his replacement would likely have been Reeza Hendricks. Hendricks had previously covered for Bavuma earlier in the tournament when the Proteas skipper missed two matches with a stomach illness. In those two games Hendricks registered scores of 85 and 12 against England and Australia respectively.
Bavuma chose to bat first against Australia in the second semi-final given their success in setting up targets in the World Cup thus far – prior to the semi-final Australia had won all five of their World Cup games in which they had batted first. The decision was made despite murky overhead conditions that produced an environment rife for early movement for the Australia new-ball pair of Starc and Josh Hazlewood to exploit. Australia captain Pat Cummins admitted that he would also have batted first had he won the toss.
Bavuma fell early as part of a South Africa top order collapse. By the time a rain delay interrupted proceedings after 14 overs, South Africa were 44-4. While the general consensus is that South Africa have surpassed expectations in reaching the final four, Bavuma has struggled to carry this excellent pre-tournament form into the World Cup – Bavuma averaged nearly 80 in ODIs in 2023 before the World Cup, but just 18 at the tournament itself.
I hate how stubborn Temba Bavuma is, he said he’s not match fit yet he’s playing today just like he did last week. This just shows how self centred he is and he’s already out, he’s a terrible captain
— senpai (@incutshe_) November 16, 2023
Extraordinary decision by Bavuma to bat first in overcast conditions. SA struggling against high quality Aussie pace attack
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 16, 2023
Only reason to bench Bavuma was fitness-based. Shouldn’t have played when he wasn’t 100% (he himself said so). But that doesn’t take away the fact that he should have played over Reeza if fully fit.#SAvsAUS https://t.co/5YBjS9T95z
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) November 16, 2023
Did Temba Bavuma forget SA had made two changes for a WC semi-final?!
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) November 16, 2023
This was a tricky toss to win for @ProteasMenCSA honestly at the Eden gardens with over head conditions gloomly,it’s ideal for bowling & very evident with bounce & seam movement. Can’t blame bavuma since thier strength has been batting first, but sometimes you have to think on…
— Shreevats goswami (@shreevats1) November 16, 2023
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