Temba Bavuma opened up on dream of leading an IPL side and the performances by fellow South Africans in the toughest T20 league.
He may not be anywhere near an IPL deal right now, but Temba Bavuma says he has developed an unexpected “fantasy” of leading one of the ten franchises in the game’s biggest T20 league.
Bavuma asserted his dream of representing and leading an IPL side, an “experience” he would love to have.
The South African limited-overs skipper said he would try to make his aspiration as much of a “realistic opportunity” as possible through strong performances at the international stage.
“I’d like to play there,” Bavuma told ESPNcricinfo in an interview for the ‘Cricket Monthly’. “The stronger my performances, the more realistic the opportunity becomes.”
“I’ve also developed this fantasy of captaining a team. I don’t know where that comes from. I’d like to get that experience as well. But I kinda need to get into a team before that happens!”
It’s nice to see some of our guys doing well in IPL – Temba Bavuma
Temba Bavuma’s own IPL chance may be far away at present, but the South African skipper feels delighted to see his players enjoy that opportunity and gain wealth of experience before they return for the national duty.
Speaking ahead of a full-fledged T20I series in India, starting June 9, Bavuma said he didn’t follow the IPL 2022 entirely but is chuffed to see his players doing well for their respective franchises.
“I haven’t been fully invested. It’s been long. It’s nice to see some of our guys doing well. KG [Rabada] en route to being the quickest to 100 wickets. Quicker than [Lasith] Malinga. That’s something to be proud of. And Marco Jansen – how he has gone and performed. Or Aiden [Markram],” Bavuma said.
“And even the younger guys who have showed their ability. There is a lot of talk about Dewald Brevis. He is an exciting prospect for our cricket. And Tristan Stubbs, getting a go. It’s been nice to see those guys.”
As they resume national duties with the India series, the Proteas seemed to have earmarked the five games versus the inaugural T20 World Cup champions as among their most “important” in the build up to the showpiece event in Australia later in the year.
Having selected a full-strength team despite a super quick turnaround from the IPL, the tourists are hoping to assert their dominance against the Indians, who will be light on experience with their all-format stars – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah – rested ahead of a busy calendar year.
“These games are definitely important. As a T20 squad, It’s the first time we’ll be together since the World Cup,” Bavuma said. “I guess just that experience of being together, us reminding ourselves of the good things that we did, how we go about playing cricket and also seeing the new faces that are within the squad, to see how those guys can come in and add value. That’s an exciting prospect.”
The first of five T20Is will be played in Delhi on June 9.
