Proteas captain Temba Bavuma addresses the media ahead of the World Cup semi-final against Australia.
[Reporter:]
It’s been quite a few days for you. How’s the hamstring and how’s your state of mind?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Physically I feel alright. Obviously not 100%. So obviously this day becomes important in terms of decisions about tomorrow. I’m quite confident, but I mean, it’s not a unilateral decision that will be made. In a state of mind, obviously a bit nervous about the game. It will be our first semi-final as a team. But I think the feeling is no different I guess from any game that we’ve encountered within the World Cup.
[Reporter:]
When you say not 100%, can you just say what it is that maybe doesn’t feel a hundred percent I mean we know it’s the hamstring but what do you need to do today to feel like to get that tick and to be able to play tomorrow?
[Temba Bavuma:]
I think it’s just using the rest day and continuing with my rehab today on the field doing some fielding stuff.
Yeah, I can’t tell you medically, but I think for me from a feeling point of view, that’s what I can attest to.
[Reporter:]
In terms of state of mind collective, do you have any plans for this evening? Are you going to knock on doors and give everyone a hug or are you just going to leave them to do their own thing and prepare in their own way?
[Temba Bavuma:]
So, most of the guys have opted to take the option with optional training today. So, I think from a skill point of view, from a physical point of view, guys are quite confident from their point of view. We’ll have our normal evening team meeting where the team will be announced. I’m sure there’ll be conversations that happen there within that meeting around the occasion of tomorrow, but I honestly don’t anticipate it to be any different. There’s a sense of calmness within the team and obviously the normal level of anxiety that you would expect going into the game tomorrow. But I think we’ll take a lot of confidence with our performances up until this point. But yeah, I don’t think I’ll be going around giving guys hugs.
[Reporter:]
For you personally, obviously, we know it’s not 100% that you’re going to play, but can you just speak from your point of view, what it would mean for you and everything you’ve gone through in your career to lead South Africa on the field in a World Cup semifinal?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, it would be massive. I’ve tried not to really allow myself to get into that space. You obviously want to treat it as just another game. But I guess you’re forcing me to acknowledge that occasion. It’s obviously something that I’ll be looking forward to. It’s something that I’ll savour in that moment. With that opportunity, I know it will mean a lot for the family and people back home. Obviously it would be nice to have another press conference with you guys on the 18th of November – but yeah try not to get too much into that into all those emotions let’s see it as just another game.
[Reporter:]
Just on the composition of your team, the last time you guys played here, you went with the two front-line spinners. Do the conditions suggest that you do the same? And when will you leave that before making a decision?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I mean, I’d love to say, I mean, if it is up to me, I’m definitely playing our two front-line spinners. Obviously, Keshav and Shamsi. We obviously have Aiden (Markram) as well, who also gives us an option there. Then I think it’s just finalising in terms of the three seamers, who that may be. But I mean, as you say, conditions, opposition as well, really give that as an option for us.
[Reporter:]
I know every semifinal South Africa played in over the years is important. But do you sort of get a sense that this one is also like perhaps one of the more significant ones? Symbolically you guys have been credited with creating a really good team environment, and also given the adversity you guys had to go through to affect this turnaround in nine months. Is this truly symbolically one of the more significant semifinals in South African cricket?
[Temba Bavuma:]
I guess they’re all important semifinals. I think like you say with the way we’ve performed as a team it’s obviously created a lot of positive sentiment but obviously high expectations. A lot of people believe that this could be the year that we see ourselves in the final. And I mean, look as a team, individually we’d like nothing better than that. But we also respect the game of cricket. You know, we’re not coming up against a Mickey Mouse team. Australia has a lot of experience and confidence in knockout games like this, so we’ve got to respect that. I’d hate to say that we deserve to go through because of the way we played our cricket. I don’t think that’s the way things go. But I think from our performances, from the processes that we’ve followed to get to this point, we’ll continue to lean on that and we believe that will take care of the result in itself.
[Reporter:]
There is a little bit of shade of FIFA World Cup in this ICC World Cup. There was a race for golden ball between Mbappe and Messi and here is a race between Virat Kohli and (Quinton) De Kock. Where would you put these two players in terms of performance?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Look, I mean, Quinton, he’s been magnificent for us, obviously being our leading run-scorer. I think at one point he was the leading World Cup scorer as well, so I think that speaks volumes in itself. Knowing Quinton, I don’t think he’s really paying much attention to all of that. I think his focus is really on contributing as best as he can to the team. I guess the stats are always just a reflection of everything the guys do behind the scenes.
Virat Kohli, is obviously an incredible player and again he’s cemented himself as one of the legends within the game so I’m not sure what is motivating him but obviously, it being a home World Cup you know he’d also like to you know bring it back for his people within India and I think with Quinton as well – not sharing too much from his side you know he’d like to really leave with the bank.
[Reporter:]
You said you weren’t 100%. First of all just wondering if you could put a rough guesstimate on whether it’s 70% or 99% where you think you are with that hamstring. Also you spoke about feeling a little bit nervous – have the other players spoken to you about feeling nervous themselves and what have you or the other senior players said to them about how to channel that or how to handle it?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I’ll start with the last one. There’s been an acknowledgement of the emotions. I don’t think you can deny or run away with that, but there’s also been I guess solutions or mechanisms that have been given as to how to deal with that anxiety if you feel that it overwhelms you. And I think that advice also flows to the senior players. I think there are only two guys in this group that have gone into a semi-final, Quinton, and David Miller, so there’s not a lot of experience from all the other guys. But yeah, there’s been that acknowledgement of those emotions as well as, I guess, solutions and mechanisms.
In terms of from a percentage point of view that I can’t really give you, Like I said, today is another day. It’s obviously an important day and I will use it as best as I can to make sure that I’m close to my best from a physical point of view.
[Reporter:]
To the obvious privilege of leading your country in a semifinal, which you spoke about a little while ago, does some way of pressure also sneak in, given the fact that the runs haven’t come off your back? And if it does, how do you deal with that, going into what would possibly be a very crucial match for you and the team?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I mean, I think I’ve said this quite a lot, the pressure is always there. I think every player feels pressure whether you’re doing well, whether you’re not doing well. It comes in different forms. I think for me, it’s important that I feel I try to separate the two, being the captain and leader of the team. Make sure that you’re doing that as well as you can. Trying to create calmness and belief within the team going into an occasion like this. And then there’s obviously me being the batter, making sure that I’m close to my best.
Yes, I haven’t scored the bulk of the runs within the team. Got it in quite a couple of times, haven’t converted. So, I guess from that point of view, also knowing that I play a key role with Quinton up top in terms of our partnership, we’ve been involved in a couple of 50-plus partnerships, so I take a lot of confidence in that.
I guess tomorrow my focus will be a lot on that, making sure that if we’re batting first, we make sure we take care of that first 10 overs. And then generally after that, it’s about me personally as a batter and if I can be ruthless. So, I mean, the pressure will always be there. I think even if at this point, I was averaging 50 or whatever, I’d still feel pressure. But you have to go out there and deal with it.
[Reporter:]
The Springboks are an inspiration to a lot of South Africans and they recently won their fourth World Cup. I know you guys are also professional cricketers and professional athletes, but do you ever look up to them as an inspiration for what they have done and the mental fortitude they have, sort of get into cricket here?
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, definitely. I think to a large degree we look at them in awe, the Springboks and how they’ve gone about their back-to-back wins in the World Cup. Obviously, the way they won it this year with the knockout games being quite close and again how that resilience, how that do-or-die attitude came through. That’s what we’ve been speaking about as a team when the crunch moment comes, when the pressure moments come, we come together as a team and we find a way to get over the line.
We also accept that it’s for us to control what we can control, what our story is within the Proteas. We know what we’d like to look like. We want to be there on the 19th of November, but for us to do that we have got to focus and deal with tomorrow as best as we can.
[Reporter:]
One thing is that last time your batters collapsed against India, especially against Ravindra’s (Jadeja) spin. So that time the area of concern is spin because yesterday we saw you and your batters practising against the spinners for more than one hour.
[Temba Bavuma:]
Yeah, I think in terms of looking at the wicket, we feel that it potentially could be a wicket that assists the spinners a lot more. So, I guess naturally, there will be a focus on our spin play. I don’t think there’s an insecurity or anything like that within our spin play as a team. We know we’ve played spin quite well from whatever angle you look at it statistically or whatever. So, I think it’s just the guys covering their bases.
Yes, the practice was probably long yesterday, but probably because guys wanted to take time off today and rather mentally refresh. Coming up against Afghanistan, you know that the challenge is going to be the spin. So again, naturally, guys will spend time polishing up their game plans. Afghanistan, and Australia, are obviously a different challenge. So yeah, no insecurity I think lies there in terms of our ability to place one.
[Reporter:]
Can you sing – it’s time for Africa, Shakira music?
[Temba Bavuma:]
I’m not sure, I’m not sure.
