Bavuma primed for Proteas Test challenge

New Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma is primed and ready for the challenge of leading his country in the most prestigious format of the game, ahead of their series against West Indies that kicks off in Centurion next week.

Bavuma recently took over the reins from Dean Elgar in a captaincy shake up, that also saw him relinquish the Proteas T20 captaincy, which coincided with the arrival of coaches Shukri Conrad, who takes over the Test team, and Rob Walters who will be in charge of the white ball sides.

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Bavuma admitted that he was in for a challenging time, but it was something that he was looking forward to, starting against the West Indies next week.

“It will be a big challenge. I think if you look at the Test team versus the white ball team. I think the white ball team is a lot more experienced.  Guys have plenty of opportunities to play white ball cricket around the world, whereas in Test cricket it is quite limited,” explained Bavuma.

“I think this year we only have the two red ball games against the West Indies and then one at the end of the year, so only three games in a year. It’s quite hard to build something of substance when you are playing in just three Tests in a year. That is going to be challenging in itself.”

Bavuma continued: “We need to find ways to upskill ourselves in all our departments. There has been a lot of pressure on the batting department. I’m not saying I am coming in and I am going to be the one to change or sort things out there, I was always involved.

“Creating solutions and ideas of how to upskill that is going to be a challenge. On the bowling front the guys we have in our bowling arsenal are world class guys on their day. So I think it’s about trying to find a way for those guys to consistently firing.

“We also want to bring some new faces into the team, guys who play the brand of cricket that we like to play. So I think it’s going to be an exciting challenge and hopefully a fruitful one.”

Outside chance

The Proteas still have an outside chance of qualifying for the World Test Championship final which will take place at the Oval in England in June, but that is not something that the team is thinking about ahead of their series against the West Indies.

“All we can control is the games that are in front of us which will be the West Indies series. I think a lot needs to happen for us to have a realistic shot at reaching the Test Championship final,” admitted Bavuma.

“I still need to speak to the team manager to fully understand what that looks like. But for us as a team we want to focus inwardly, on the things we would like to do and how we want to do it. The rest will look after itself.”

Bavuma also admitted that he was proud to have been named captain of the Test team and that he would do his best in the role going forward.

“It’s probably the most coveted one for the players. First and foremost the dream was always to play Test cricket. To have lived that dream and to now also have the opportunity of leading the Test team is very special,” said Bavuma.

“It means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family and the people that have supported me on this journey.”