Temba Bavuma hasn’t quite had an inspiring run with the bat this year, and the skipper’s run-drought puts South Africa in a tricky position ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022.
“We missed him [Temba Bavuma] out there in the game. He’s our leader,” said Aiden Markram after the South Africa skipper missed the second ODI against India in Ranchi, wherein the visitors went down by seven wickets.
Bavuma’s presence in South Africa’s contingent as a leader is perhaps much more significant than for any other skipper leading his side at the upcoming T20 World Cup. Bavuma, the first black African cricketer to make a Test century for South Africa and the first to captain the side, has been the torchbearer for South Africa in their commitment for diversity, and has the respect of his teams, which is the very foundation of being a leader.
A game into their T20 World Cup campaign last year, the focus had shifted from on the field to off it, with Quinton de Kock’s refusal to take a knee before the game against West Indies stirring troubled times. The team form however, didn’t take a dent, as South Africa won four of the five Super 12s matches with de Kock returning to play his part. They would however miss out on the semi-final qualification on virtue of net run-rate.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022, South Africa begin as one of firm contenders with match-winners top to toe, but are still sweating over the batting form of their captain. In his seven T20I innings this year, Bavuma has registered scores of 10, 35, 8, 8*, 0, 0, 3 at a combined strike-rate of 82.05. On the contrary, Reeza Hendricks, who made way for Bavuma in the starting XI following the latter’s return from injury against India last month, has aggregated 323 runs at 46.14 and a strike-rate of 139.83. To worsen it all the more, Bavuma, who has a win-loss ratio of 1.857 while leading South Africa in T20Is – bettered only by Graeme Smith’s 2 (minimum 20 matches) – was overlooked at the SA20 auctions last month, presenting a glim picture.
And so, the question stands: Does Bavuma fit in South Africa’s starting XI on the basis of his captaincy and brilliant athleticism alone? There’s little doubt over his potential as a batter for someone who has 15 first-class hundreds (and one in T20 cricket), but does the current form put Proteas in a good stead?
Championships have been won in the past with leaders playing a stronger role in terms of carrying the team than by them making an impact as a player. In West Indies’ title winning T20 World Cup 2016 campaign, Daren Sammy scored 8 off 11 from three innings combined (six matches) including a golden duck. With the ball, he returned 1/31 from three overs across two innings, featuring a 14-run over in the final. Four years earlier, he had scored a valuable 26* off 15, and had dismissed Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne in a brilliant spell of 2/6 (two overs) in the final. Outside of that (six matches), he scored 28 runs from four outings at a strike-rate of 121.74, and had bagged two wickets at 62.50.
Sammy’s role as the leader could best be felt and summed up when the man spoke himself after the second triumph six years ago.
A better example – or perhaps the best of the lot – is that of Mike Brearley, whose win-loss ratio of 4.500 as a Test captain is bettered only by Sir Don Bradman (5) and Steve Waugh (4.555) for a minimum of 20 matches cut-off. At the historic 1981 Ashes, Brearely returned to lead England after they were down 0-1 after two Tests, led his side to a come-from-behind epic 3-1 triumph, with Ian Botham, Bob Willis and the rest blossoming under him. In what happened to be his last Test series, Brearley aggregated 141 runs at 17.63 despite having managed scores of 48 and 51.
Earlier, Brearely had led England to a runners-up finish at the 1979 World Cup, registering scores of 44, 0, 0, 53 and 64 at a combined strike-rate of 39.85, which served his side pretty fine given the times. The last of those, however, came in a 129-run opening stand in 38 overs in a 287-run chase (60 overs) in the final, setting it up for a dramatic collapse of 183/2 to 194 all-out.
Back to Bavuma, who is arguably more gifted on his skill-set as a player than Brearley and Sammy, boasting fine numbers across formats in competitive cricket. As for T20s, Sammy’s case was helped by the fact that he batted in the lower half of the order, with Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and the rest setting it up on most occasions. Bavuma, however, has to be the man to lay the foundation in company of Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw at the top for David Miller and co to unleash at the back end. The overall T20I strike-rate of 116.5 too, has to shoot up in conditions Down Under which aid high-scoring.
Top-order runs or leadership? Substance or inspiration? South Africa, fresh from a 1-2 ODI series defeat to India which further dents their direct qualification chances at the next year’s ODI World Cup, need all of it in Australia. Bavuma surely offers the latter, but it’s his best version as a batter that Proteas need at the T20 World Cup, perhaps more than ever before.
