Skipper, Temba Bavuma, reiterated the belief he has in his men to produce the desired results in this month’s T20 World Cup in the UAE & Oman, writes Ongama Gcwabe.
The Proteas T20 World Cup squad left our shores on Sunday 3rd October, boarding a flight to Dubai from King Shaka International Airport.
South Africa begins its campaign in less than three weeks against a formidable Australian outfit at the Sheik Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The Proteas had assembled for a three day training camp at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban, a camp which aimed to “refresh and remind” the squad of the task at hand.
Sporting the green & gold blazer, Proteas captain, Bavuma addressed excited members of the media ahead of the teams departure on Sunday morning.
THUMB INJURY UPDATE
“In terms of my thumb, I actually started batting a bit yesterday. According to the doctor and the medical team, everything is still on schedule,” Bavuma told members of the media.
“I’m quite happy with where it’s at. Obviously it’s not at a hundred percent at the moment but everyone is happy with the progress thus far.”
To many of us, it has been a relief knowing that Bavuma is going well in his recovery processes, and knowing that he will be available to fulfill his leadership responsibilities.
INSPIRATION FROM THE SPRINGBOKS
There has never been a better time to bring home an ICC trophy than now, bearing in mind the state the game of cricket is in in the country.
The cricketing community and the country at large needs a special effort from the Proteas team in this World Cup to birth a new, positive era in SA Cricket.
The Springboks 2019 World Cup squad achieved this feat. When they brought the trophy home, they gave hope to a nation in desperate need of hope and light.
“There’s a lot of inspiration to draw from the Springboks. As much as how they performed in the Championship didn’t go to how they would’ve wanted you always had that sense of belief that they could win at anytime.” Bavuma commented.
“That fight that they have more than reliance that they’ve shown over the years is something that most sportsmen here in South Africa we admire. As the Proteas we bank on our resilience but we know people back home want us to do well on the big stage in high pressure moments.” He added.
BAVUMA’S THOUGHTS ON PROTEAS STRONG GROUP
The Proteas have been drafted in a group with defending champions West Indies, Australia and England.
This is by far the toughest group in this year’s edition of the tournament and one can only wonder if this Proteas squad will make it past the group stages given that they are a less experienced side in ICC world events.
Nonetheless, the boys have had recent success in bilateral series’ against England and West Indies. As much as this is a confidence boost, the World Cup is a totally different ball game.
“It’s obviously a tough group that we’re in but we wouldn’t want it any differently. The teams that we will be coming up against we played against them, some of them we have had good success of late. We will be drawing in those good experiences,”said Bavuma.
“The biggest thing for us as a team, which we pride ourselves on, is preparing as well as we can, being tactically astute and ensuring that on the day we execute our plans as well as we can. As tough a group as it may seem, we back ourselves, we back our chances, I know a lot of people out there don’t, but we back our chances.” He added.
LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN ICC-EVENTS
Bavuma will not only lead the Proteas for the first time in the biggest stage of them all but he himself will be featuring for the first time in a World Cup for his country.
Bavuma along with Reeza Hendricks, Bjorn Fortuin, Heinrich Klaseen, Wiaan Mulder, George Linde, Anrich Nortje, Keshav Maharaj and Lizaad Williams will make their debuts at ICC World Events. That means exactly half the squad will potentially feature for the first time in a World Cup.
“It is my first world event. For me looking at the position that I’m in, you kind of acknowledge the responsibility leaving the South African shores. I think also there’s the thinking of when you come back to South Africa life could be different,” insisted Bavuma.
“From a team point of view, it’s more excitement, it’s more of the anxiety of experiencing something that you haven’t come across but it’s more of excitement at the moment. Our first game is on the 23rd, so there’s a lot of time before then.” He concluded.
There will be a lot riding on the experience some of the members of the squad, who are currently competing in the ongoing IPL, gain as the World Cup will be played in the same conditions.
Bavuma emphasized that the team will be counting on such members of the team to bring value to the team as far as conditions and suitable strategies are concerned.
“There’s guys in the IPL, we’re banking on those guys to bring back some good intel for us in terms of what to expect over there. When we get there we have a six day quarantine or so, and then after that we can train as a team. That’s probably when we’ll get back the IPL guys.” Bavuma concluded.
PROTEAS WORLD CUP FIXTURES:
23 Oct – v AUS
26 Oct – v WI
30 Oct – v A1
2 Nov – v B2
6 Nov – v ENG
