VIDEO: Bavuma makes Test debut in Port Elizabeth

The team environment has given the 24-year-old a smooth introduction to international cricket, and possibly the best platform to excel as a youngster.

” The guys have been very welcoming and friendly,” he explained. ” They have assisted me where they have felt they can and have tried to make my stay amongst the group as welcoming and as comfortable as possible. I owe it to those guys for being there for me.”

He got a taste of “what’s to come” when he came on as a substitute fielder during the first Test at SuperSport Park, and added good energy and intensity to the field along with his sharp catch at short-leg.

“ I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t feel different,” he said of the step up to international cricket. “ When you walk onto the field and you look around you there are more people than normal. The intensity of the play is higher so it does feel different.”

Watch as Bavuma speaks about making his debut for South Africa

South Africa’s starting XI

Alviro Petersen, Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla(c), AB de Villiers(w), Stiaan van Zyl, Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir

West Indies Starting XI

Kraigg Brathwaite, Devon Smith, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin(w/c), Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Sulieman Benn, Shannon Gabriel, Keon Peters

Sources

Cricket South Africa Facebook page

Cricbuzz