‘All I know is pressure’ – Proteas’ new Test captain

TEMBA Bavuma, successor to Dean Elgar as Test captain, believes nothing will change their relationship and that Elgar remains his senior in the team despite being relieved of the captaincy duties post the horrific tours to England and Australia earlier in the summer.

It has been a week to cherish for Bavuma after he was announced as new Test captain. Bavuma and his family will forever remember this week as a highlight in their lives as the new captain continues to be a glass ceiling breaker.

Firstly, he became the first black African batter to play Test cricket for South Africa and then went on to score the first century by a black African batter.

Now Bavuma is the first black African to captain South Africa in Test cricket, 134 years after South Africa played its first Test in March 1889.

As proud a moment as it has been for Bavuma, it could’ve been a tough one to accept for Elgar who has been let go as Test captain.

Bavuma reassured everyone that all is good between himself and Elgar.

“There’s nothing wrong with my relationship with Dean,” Bavuma told the media yesterday.

“Dean and I have always been good teammates. I’ve always looked up to Dean as a senior player. He helped me settle in within the team. I don’t see how things can change with the changes that have been made from the leadership point of view,” Bavuma said.

Having stepped down as T20I captain after an unsuccessful run in the role in two consecutive World Cups, Bavuma acknowledged that his inexperience as a T20 player probably led to his poor returns as T20I captain.

Having learnt from that tough experience he is keen to get started as Test captain.

“I’ve been in international cricket for a number of years so all I know is pressure. If the pressure with the Test captaincy is different, I guess that is something that I will have to experience.

“The white ball team is a lot more experienced. Guys have a lot of opportunities to play all around the world.

Whereas in Test cricket it is quite limited.

“This year we have the two red ball games against the West Indies and one at the end of the year, so only three in a year. It’s quite hard to build something of substance when you’re playing three Test matches in a year.”

It is particularly more difficult for Bavuma coming in to lead at a time when the Proteas Test team’s batting problems are well documented after tours to England and Australia were a disaster for the batting group.

Nevertheless, the new Test captain takes strength and confidence from coach Shukri Conrad’s belief in him to be the right man to lead South Africa.

“Shukri believes I’m the right man for the job because I’m one of the most consistent players over the last couple of years. He believes I have what it takes to turn his vision into a reality,” Bavuma concluded.

The Test team assembled at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday and trained for the first time together ahead of the first Test match that will get under way next Tuesday.