Image: Temba Bavuma's influence on the creation of a special chapter in Proteas History / © ESPNcricinfo
The South African cricket team has gone through turmoil over the past few years in the Test format. With legends like AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Dale Steyn, and many more announcing their retirements from the longest format of the game, there were questions regarding who could lead the team.
Besides that, the team also suffered various losses at home and even in the ICC events, following which various fans and critics thought that the time had now passed for the Proteas in the Test format. At this moment, when all hopes were gone, Temba Bavuma stepped in to take the captaincy of the team in the Test format.
When Temba Bavuma was announced as the captain of the Test team in 2022, various fans trolled him for the quota system, saying that there were many more deserving players who could’ve been a better captain. Along with that, he also received trolling for his height and style of play, making him a troll magnet.
But Bavuma decided to silence the critics, as he went on to defeat Australia in the World Test Championship final match at the Lord’s by 5 wickets. This win not only helped him to silence the critics and trolls, but it also helped the South African cricket team to end its ICC trophy drought. This allowed Bavuma to win the first ICC title for the team in the 21st century.
The South African cricket team, which was earlier known as the “Chokers,” finally got this tag redefined under the leadership of Temba Bavuma, who led the team from the front. Despite various heartbreaks, he ensured that a title was won by the team in respect to all the legends who gave their best to achieve the same. Let’s take a look at how Bavuma inspired a Golden chapter in the history of Proteas cricket.
Temba Bavuma has been one of the star performers for the South African cricket team in the World Test Championship. Not only under his captaincy, but he also holds impressive records in the WTC under the other captains of the team. In 28 matches of the World Test Championship, he has scored 1992 runs in 28 matches at an average of 44.26, with 3 centuries and 12 half-centuries.
| Period | Matches | Innings | Runs | High Score | Average | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2021 | 8 | 14 | 381 | 71 | 29.30 | 0 | 2 |
| 2021–2023 | 12 | 24 | 900 | 172 | 45.00 | 1 | 5 |
| 2023–2025 | 8 | 13 | 711 | 113 | 59.25 | 2 | 5 |
| Overall | 28 | 51 | 1992 | 172 | 44.26 | 3 | 12 |
In the World Test Championship 2019-21 cycle, Temba Bavuma didn’t have a good record, as he scored 381 runs in 8 matches at an average of 29.30, with two half-centuries. His first half-century came in the match against Sri Lanka at the Centurion, where he scored 71 runs off 125 balls, and on an occasion where all the team batters shone.
His second half-century in the World Test Championship cycle came against Pakistan in the 2nd Test at Rawalpindi. After missing out on his half-century by just 6 runs in the first innings, he scored 61 runs in the next innings, which played a crucial role for South Africa. The WTC 2019-21 cycle didn’t go well for the team as they finished in 6th place.
In the next WTC cycle, Temba Bavuma improved his performance to a great extent. He scored 900 runs in 24 innings at an average of 45, with one century and 5 half-centuries. By this time, he had been a consistent run scorer for the team in the Test formats, and this was also the time when Bavuma took over the Test captaincy.
His best performance in the World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle came in the Home Test series against West Indies. At this time, Bavuma was also the captain of the team in this format, as he scored 28 runs in the first innings and 172 in the second innings. In the World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle, Temba Bavuma led South Africa towards the end but still helped the team to finish at the 3rd place in the standings, missing out on the finals by a small margin.
But that was not the end, as Temba Bavuma continued his dominance in the WTC 2023-25 cycle. In 13 innings, he scored 711 runs at an average of 59.25, with 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries. At such a staggering average, he also scored a half-century against Australia in the final match, while chasing the score of 282. His partnership with Aiden Markram played a crucial role in South Africa’s win.
Since the Proteas were struggling to secure wins in the WTC cycle, after the series against India and New Zealand, Bavuma came back and took the captaincy of the team. He also scored 86 runs in the first innings, which played a crucial role in the team’s good scores and helped to regain form. Bavuma also scored centuries in the Tests against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
His stats have been improving in the Test format since 2020, with his average rising over the years. Over the last five years, Temba Bavuma has managed to average more than 50 in four of them. Currently in 2025, he holds an average of 60.33, and in 2024, he had a Test average of 55.88. This also shows that the captain Bavuma believes in leading the team from the front. Along with that, he also holds the 2nd spot in having the best batting average this WTC cycle, standing just behind Kamindu Mendis.
Temba Bavuma was first announced as the captain of the team in the Test format in 2023, where he first captained the team in the Tests against West Indies. Following this, he took a break of almost 20 months from the Test format, which came due to multiple reasons. One of the major reasons why he missed out on the Test matches was due to personal choices.
Along with that, the team prioritization was not favouring Bavuma in the Test format when he decided to make a comeback. He also encountered a hamstring injury during the 2023 ODI World Cup, due to which he missed out on more across all formats. But when he fully recovered from all the issues, fans saw the greatest comeback by a captain in Test format history.
Coming back as the captain of the team in 2024, Bavuma started to lead the side after the heavy loss they suffered against New Zealand in his absence. He went on to win the remaining 7 games the team had left in its WTC cycle and pushed it to the top of the World Test Championship standings.
This further helped South Africa to reach the finals of the World Test Championship 2023-23, where the team went against the defending champions, Australia, at Lord’s. When the whole world thought it would be an easy win for the Aussies, Bavuma silenced the silencer and led South Africa to win the Ultimate Test Match.
Playing just 10 Test matches as a captain for the Proteas, Temba Bavuma has already marked several achievements to his name, some of which are as follows:
This may just be the beginning of the Proteas’ domination in the ICC events, being led by Temba Bavuma. Will Bavuma help the South African team to defend its WTC title in the next cycle, or will we see another captain dominating for his team?