Temba Bavuma, taking the good with the bad

Temba Bavuma’s 98 against England was a defining knock in his season, after a shaky couple of weeks for the Proteas batsman, writes Naeemah Benjamin.

There’s no doubt that Temba Bavuma had a tough couple of weeks after being dropped from the Test side.

He made headlines and was trending on Twitter every other day despite not even being in the XI for the first three matches in an embarrassing series defeat to England.

During the first ODI against England at Newlands, I walked down to the grass embankment when he was on 95 and the crowds were fully urging him on chanting “Bavuma, Bavuma, Bavuma” at the top of their lungs.

Well, they might’ve jinxed him… as he fell just two runs short of a ton. But one can’t take anything away from that majestic innings.

“A lot has happened, for the good and bad,” said Bavuma in the post-match press conference.

“I mean, if I could say at the end of the MSL, I wouldn’t have thought things would have turned out the way that it’s happened.

“It’s given me time away from the game, time away to kind of reflect and to look at my game.

“To realign myself with my goals and where I’d like to go in my personal ambitions. To find the strength and courage to keep tugging along and keep enjoying the game.”

He looked full of confidence during a 98 filled with brilliance all around the park. His partnership of 173 with new skipper Quinton de Kock (107) certainly entertained a packed Newlands under the scorching sun on Tuesday.

“To be honest it was just good to be on the field, that might sound a bit indifferent but for me just being on the field again, running around with the guys, it was good,” he added.

“Different format as well, different type of pressure. I really felt like I was a kid with no burden out there. Just trying to enjoy this game of cricket.”

A soft-spoken and calm headed Bavuma emphasized that he wants to be recognized for his performances and not the colour of his skin.

He admitted that these few weeks were hard and it wasn’t so much the fact that he was dropped but that transformation was being thrown around.

He probably gave us a glimpse of what every black African batsman or player coming through the ranks faces when “transformation” gets thrown around so loosely. It adds pressure. Unwarranted pressure.

“Yes I’m black, that’s my skin. I play cricket because I love it,” he said sternly.

“I’d like to think that’s the reason why I’m in the team because of my performances that I put forward in my franchise side.

“I think the awkwardness and uncomfortability from my side is when you get thrown into talks of transformation and all of that.

“The discomfort was there, having to navigate myself around all those types of talks. Players get dropped. I’m not the last guy to get dropped and that’s something as players, we’ve come to accept.

“The one thing that kind of irks me is when you are seen in the eyes of transformation. When you do well transformation is not spoken about but when you do badly transformation is thrown at the top of the agenda and for me I’ve got a serious problem with that.

“We’ve got to be able to take the good with the bad. If transformation is bad when black African players are not doing well… when they’re doing well, let’s also recognise transformation for what it’s done.

Should Bavuma be considered for the limited-overs format in the long run and be given a fair chance to further prove his capabilities and not just one game here and there?

Every time he’s donned the green or yellow for the Proteas he’s made an impact (3 ODI’s and 2 T20I’s).

In the span of 4 years he’s played three ODI’s since his debut back in 2016, he scored 113 against Ireland, 48 against Bangladesh and 98 against England averaging 86.33.

He played in the T20I’s in India in 2019, scoring 49 and 27*

“I think there’s a lot of players out there who’ve fallen under that category where they’ve kind of been pigeonholed, seen as just one format type of players.

“I think as players, well myself more particularly, I never internalized the whole narrative that I was just a red-ball player I’ve always enjoyed T20 cricket and one-day cricket as much as I’ve enjoyed Test cricket. It just so happens that the opportunities came in red-ball cricket for me.”