Proteas limited overs captain Temba Bavuma has confessed his willingness to remain the leader of the ODI and T20 teams going forward. | ✍️ Avuyile Sawula

Bavuma will lead the side in what will be one of the most important ODI series in the team’s history, with automatic qualification for this year’s World Cup in India hanging in the balance.

To add to the pressure on the captain, Bavuma’s recent form has been poor despite averaging 42.92. The 32-year-old will also be looking to impress the new coaches, and having last played an ODI match last October, there’s no better time than now.

Speaking ahead of the first match, Bavuma said he is still fully committed to leading the team but would make way if the new regime preferred someone over him.

“Conversations were had with the relevant people, I’m still in it and I’ve said to the guys if they want me to lead, I’m happy to do it,” said Bavuma.

“I’ve never made it about me; it’s always been about the team, and whenever the team hasn’t performed well, I’ve always tried to shield the guys.” “If the team wants to go in a different direction with a different leader, I’m happy to step away.”

“Ultimately, it’s up to the coach, and he’ll have his vision and need someone to drive that vision. However, at the moment, the coach has entrusted me with that role in the 50-over stuff, and I’ll continue doing my best, and fortunately, I’ve got a bunch of guys that support me, so I guess for me it’s business as usual.”

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Bavuma is one of the South African players who missed out on the inaugural SA20 league, which is currently on a break to accommodate the series. He admits that the short period given to prepare has been challenging, but he expects both teams to familiarize themselves with the tight schedule.

“It’s a unique circumstance that we find ourselves in; we generally have a couple of days to prepare for a series.”

“With that being said, those are the circumstances we find ourselves in, and I think both teams are experienced enough to prepare as well as they can for what lies ahead.”

“It’s an important series for both teams, especially looking at what our schedule looks like this year.”

“We [Proteas] have had our challenges, and I think those challenges have made us more of a stronger unit and have strengthened our character, and we’ll be looking to show up in the next couple of days.”

With new coaches and new ideas at the helm, Bavuma believes it is normal for players to feel “insecure” about their roles in the team but hopes the team will pull its weight.

“I haven’t worked a great deal with Rob [Walter], but in my interactions with him, he seems like quite a chilled guy.”

“He definitely has a plan on how he’d like to do things, and it’s quite exciting looking at where he’d like to take the team.”

“Obviously from a player’s perspective, with change can come a bit of uncertainty and insecurity, but I’m sure the guys will be looking to put their best foot forward to make sure that they still have both feet on the team.”

Action at the Mangaung Oval kicks off at 13:00 on Friday.

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