Proteas head coach Rob Walter ended Temba Bavuma’s mediocre T20I tenure in a decision that will strengthen the team’s World Cup challenge, writes RYAN VREDE.
When the Proteas’ T20 World Cup squad was announced on Tuesday, Bavuma was the most glaring omission. This is not because a cricket argument can be mounted for Bavuma’s inclusion. It can’t. He last scored a T20I half-century in July 2021 (against Ireland) and averaged just 19 in his last 20 T20I innings.
It was glaring because Bavuma has benefitted from consistent T20I selection despite the selectors not being able to mount a legitimate cricket argument for his selection.
Bavuma struggled through the 2022 T20 World Cup, averaging 18 at an insignificant strike rate. He wasn’t picked up at the 2023 SA20 auction but was later drafted in by the Sunrisers Eastern Cape as an injury replacement. The franchise selected him again for the 2024 tournament, but he played just four matches. IPL franchises also passed over Bavuma, as he has been for most of his career.
He just isn’t a competent T20I player, and his omission from the Proteas’ World Cup squad is not a brave call from Walter, it is the obvious one.
Asked if the board and director of cricket Enoch Nkwe rubber-stamped the decision, Walter responded: “No squad I pick gets picked without discussion with the director of cricket.”
CSA’s media release announcing the squad did not refer to their former T20I skipper being dropped, and the media asked no direct questions about Bavuma’s exclusion. This was puzzling given how strongly CSA and many in the media advocated for Bavuma’s retention despite his chronic struggles in the format.
The Proteas can amend their squad until 25 May without medical reasons. Bavuma’s exclusion is likely to pique political interest, and with this being an election year in South Africa, one should not rule out political grandstanding and even political intervention related to this issue. This may not be over just yet.
However, it should be. Bavuma is a highly competent ODI player (despite recent form) and an ever-improving Test batsman. But his strengths are not suited to the T20 format, and his weaknesses are illuminated therein.
There is likely a strong narrative that a black batsman is being scapegoated for the Proteas’ big-tournament failures. Even the most basic analysis indicates that a mediocre batsman has suffered an understandable fate.
Bavuma’s absence leaves just one black African player – Kagiso Rabada – in the squad. Asked about the implications thereof, given the historical targets in the national team, Walter said: “My No 1 imperative is to create a winning Proteas team. In order to do that I must pick the team, at the time, that gives us the best chance of doing that. With that said, the system needs to up the ante so that in six, 12 months, or two years time, and particularly when we reach the 2027 World Cup at home, the demographics and representation will look a bit different.”
Walter is spot on. CSA is responsible for transforming the game at levels below the national team. This is happening slowly, arguably too slowly given that we are three decades post-apartheid.
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Bavuma was heralded as a product of the game’s success on the transformation front. I suspect that’s not a weight he carried easily. He may yet find a method that works for him in T20 cricket, and regain a place in the Proteas squad in the months to come. I hope he does. A flourishing black African batsman, more so a flourishing black African captain and batsman, one whose talent and temperament overcame adversity, would be a wonderful and inspiring reality.
Right now he is in the T20 wilderness with only the opportunity to redeem himself as company.
Your move, Temba.
