He endured this injury while batting on Day 3 of the WTC 2025 final.
Ahead of the two-match Test series against Zimbabwe, South Africa have suffered a huge blow regarding the availability of their captain. Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the Test rubber due to a left hamstring strain he sustained during the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final last week.
He endured this injury while batting on Day 3 of the final and was in visible pain while batting, but didn’t leave the field. Following the game, the South African captain revealed that the medical team had asked him not to continue batting, for that would harm his hamstring.
However, he went against their advice and stitched a vital partnership with Aiden Markram to script a historic win for the Proteas, scoring 66 runs in the second innings. In fact, he kept pushing his hamstring by running hard between the wickets and wasn’t shy of converting doubles and triples in the middle.
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He will now undergo more medical scans to determine the extent of the injury, ruling him out of the series. This is the third time in two years that Bavuma has suffered a hamstring injury, and he also missed a few games during the 2023 World Cup due to the same issue.
The experienced Keshav Maharaj will be at the helm in Bavuma’s absence and lead South Africa against Zimbabwe. Aiden Markram was the vice-captain during the WTC 2025 final and would have taken the captaincy duties, but he has been rested for this rubber.
Maharaj has led South Africa across white-ball formats, but this will be his maiden assignment as a Test captain. He will have a pretty young squad with several new faces for this rubber, as several first-choice players have been rested after the WTC 2025 final.
Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Marco Jansen, and Tristan Stubbs are among those notable names rested for this series, while Lungi Ngidi will only be available for the second Test. Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Lesego Senokwane, Codi Yusuf, Dewald Brevis and Prenelan Subrayen are the uncapped players included in the squad.
The two-match Test series begins on June 28 in Bulawayo. This rubber is not part of the World Test Championship cycle.
Keshav Maharaj (c), David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Kwena Maphaka, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi (only second Test), Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Lesego Senokwane, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Verreynne and Codi Yusuf
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