When a diminutive Temba Bavuma earned his maiden Test call-up just over a decade ago, South Africa were – although in transition after the talismanic Graeme Smith’s retirement – still the top Test side in the world with the likes of Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn very much around.
While playing alongside players of such stature was the stuff of dreams, Bavuma had his own set of challenges he had to overcome. Finding one’s feet in international cricket itself is a tough job and if you are the first black African specialist batter to play for the Proteas, things could easily go south if you don’t live up to the expectations.
Bavuma was a slow starter when it came to Test cricket. After a superb maiden Test hundred in Newlands against England, Bavuma had a prolonged spell without a century to his name in the longer format. While many of his fifties came in trying conditions, the lack of big scores and an average in the early thirties didn’t really help.
Bavuma was constantly subject to social media outrage when runs dried up for him. To his own admission, he was called “many names” and at one point, according to cricket writer Jarrod Kimber, Bavuma was “doubted and mocked as a near national pastime” for his height, form, race and what not.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 🏆🇿🇦
South Africa take home the 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐞 👏#WTC25 #SAvAUS pic.twitter.com/Yy4C4AQEO7
— ICC (@ICC) June 14, 2025
His leadership quality, among other things, stood out. Before being named as Test captain, Bavuma led South Africa in both the white-ball formats. While the right-handed batter is generally a steady performer and an excellent captain, his performance as a batter garnered a lot of criticism in two big tournaments – the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup. Murmurs of “quota player” loomed large.
It was not easy for him to shut the outside noise and do his job. “I’d love to understand why it becomes a lot more viral when it’s just me,” he wondered in a recent interview. “I don’t think you can go and live your life out on social media. That is a facade.”
Almost quietly, Bavuma, standing at 5’3”, grew in stature as a Test batter and became the fulcrum of the Protea batting line-up. He has 711 runs in the just-concluded Test cycle at an average of 60 while no one else from South Africa averages in the 50s. He failed to lead the way with the bat in two big tournaments. This was his redemption as a batter.
What about his leadership? A soft-spoken man, Bavuma is a captain held in very high regard. South Africa Test coach labelled South Africa “Temba’s team” on many occasions. He now holds the record for most appearances as Test captain without being defeated (10, equalling Warwick Armstrong).
Quinton de Kock missed a game in the 2021 T20 World Cup after he had refused to take a knee pre-match. Bavuma was quite sympathetic to de Kock, saying the latter was an “adult” and can have his own perspective. Pundits like Nasser Hussain praised Bavuma for this for not throwing de Kock “under the bus”.
It was quite fitting that Bavuma was part of a pivotal partnership in the World Test Championship final against eternal rivals Australia, a much-stronger team on paper, at the Lord’s, a place where he dreamt of playing since his days in Langa as a township boy.
“On the right-hand side of the street the tar wasn’t done so nicely and we used to call it Karachi because the ball would bounce funny. The other side was the MCG [Melbourne Cricket Ground] but my favourite section of the street was clean, and done up nicely, and we called it Lord’s because it just looked better. So, as a kid of 10, I already had that dream of playing at Lord’s,” he said in an interview recently.
A couple of decades later, he is the role model for the boys playing street cricket at the Lord’s of Langa.
In a recent tweet, broadcaster Harsha Bhogle wrote, “A year ago, I asked friends in South Africa if Bavuma could be the [Siya] Kolisi of cricket. Maybe?”
The difference between him and Kolisi is that the latter led a star-studded Springboks side while Bavuma’s South Africa don’t have many of them.
In a lionhearted effort, Bavuma batted on one leg after pulling a hamstring and was unbeaten on 65 at stumps on day three. When he was dismissed for 66 early on day four, the damage was already done.
As soon as he reached his fifty on Friday, the Lord’s crowd chanted his name. “Oh Temba Bavuma!” they went.
It was a seminal moment for the man who tiptoed into the big stage as a youngster dealing with self-doubt alongside South Africa’s big boys in 2014.
A decade later, he is the source of inspiration and hope for many.
In Zulu, “Temba” means hope. What are we without hope? What are the Proteas without Temba Bavuma?