Temba Bavuma's 'Relief' and 'Joy' as Proteas Eye Redemption in WTC Final

A dark cloud has been over the South African team for a number of years, especially on the world stage where time and again, the team has fallen short of bringing back home silverware.

In World Cups, both T20Is and ODIs, prior to 2024, the team has had very few fortunes as things just kept going wrong in the showpiece events.

In 2021, South Africa crashed out in the group stages of the Men's T20 World Cup in the UAE despite winning four of their five matches.

That campaign saw South Africa blow past England and West Indies, some of the world's most dominant T20 outfits at the time. Their only loss was a narrow five-wicket loss to Australia, with two balls remaining, as the Proteas had to return home empty-handed.

Bavuma's 'Joy' and 'Relief' in sending Proteas to first WTC final

The following year, with Temba Bavuma the captain once again, the team had an even more heartwrenching T20 World Cup campaign, this time in Australia.

That year, the team was knocked out in the group stages courtesy of the Netherlands, a team that many would expect South Africa to give a hiding. Once again, the South Africans returned home with nothing to show for despite having beaten India in that campaign.

In 2023, during the ODI World Cup in India, Bavuma led South Africa to the semi-final, beating every team except India and Netherlands on their way to the semis.

They eventually crashed out in the semi-final, losing an Australian outfit that they had beaten in the group stages by a mammoth 134 runs.

Despite Quinton de Kock smashing 594 runs in that tournament including four centuries, it was just not enough to see South Africa emerge victorious as they returned home empty-handed once again.

Having gone through all those disappointments, both as a player and captain, Bavuma now has an opportunity to lead South Africa in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) at Lord's in June.

South Africa was the first to qualify for the final having beaten Pakistan in the first Test at Centurion last week, leaving India, Australia and Sri Lanka vying for the second spot.

Reflecting on his time as captain, Bavuma mentioned 'relief' and 'joy' as some of the words that describe his tenure as captain across formats as SportsBoom was present in Cape Town ahead of the second Test between South Africa and Pakistan.

"For me, there was a lot of relief, to be honest. Relief coupled with the joy in us getting to that point (WTC final)," Bavuma told SportsBoom.com.

"In my tenure from a leadership point of view, having had the opportunity to lead in World Cups and always coming back with some form of disappointment when at times we played good cricket and you would think that maybe we deserved a bit more. There was a lot of relief from that point of view."

"Now, we have an opportunity to realise all of the things that we've spoken about as senior players within the team. For me as well, as a feather in my cap, having that opportunity to lead the team in the final, gives me a lot of pride and appreciation for everything that happened up until this point."

"That moment was emotional for me as a player. Everything that myself and the team has gotten through and now we have an opportunity to have a shot at bringing back some silverware."

The Newlands Wicket

The second Test is scheduled to take place at the picturesque Newlands Stadium where the series is on the line with South Africa one-nil up.

The very same ground received an 'unsatisfactory' rating a year before when a Test match between South Africa and India lasted under two days, becoming the shortest Test in terms of deliveries in the history of the game.

Bavuma did confirm that they had seen the pitch for the second Test even though the 34-year-old decided to keep his thoughts on the wicket to himself.

"We've had a look at the wicket. It's quite interesting. I'm not allowed to speak much on the pitch. Hopefully, it does go the full five days and at least offers us the opportunity to play a good five days of cricket," said Bavuma.

"We've heard that the five two days are sold out here at Newlands. I don't think there's anything better than that playing the New Year's Test here at Newlands. Hopefully, the wicket plays its part as well." he added.

The Playing XI

South Africa has made three changes from the team that won the first Test at Centurion as Keshav Maharaj, Wiaan Mulder return to the playing XI having been injured, while Kwena Maphaka, the 18-year-old fast bowling sensation is in for a debut Test.

Tony de Zorzi sits out due to a left thigh strain, while Dane Paterson and Corbin Bosch have been left out of the side for the New Year's Test. 

1. Aiden Markram
2. Ryan Rickelton
3. Wiaan Mulder
4. Tristan Stubbs
5. Temba Bavuma (c)
6. David Bedingham
7. Kyle Verreynne
8. Marco Jansen
9. Keshav Maharaj
10. Kagiso Rabada
11. Kwena Maphaka