South Africa captain Temba Bavuma believes that playing an Indian team that includes Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma is nothing new, but it does help the hosts, whom the Proteas had blanked 2-0 in the Test series.
India won the first ODI by 17 runs with to Kohli’s 52nd ODI century and Rohit’s 57, giving them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The second game will take place in Raipur on Wednesday.
“The inclusion of those two guys that does bolster the team. Like we said at the start of the series, these are two guys who have a lot of experience and a lot of skill and that can only benefit the team.
“It is not something that we are not aware of,” Bavuma told the media ahead of South Africa’s training session at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium in Raipur.
Bavuma recounted witnessing as a school student a young Rohit in the 2007 T20 World Cup, which India won, highlighting their experience in international cricket.
“We played against, Rohit… I think it was in 2007, the T20 World Cup, I was still in school then. I mean, these guys have been around, so there is nothing new. These are world-class players,” he said.
“(Coming up against them is) nothing new, we have come across it. We have been on the bad end of it but we have also had good times against them. It all just makes the series a lot more exciting,” he said.
Bavuma stated that he had nothing to say about South Africa’s head coach Shukri Conrad’s use of the phrase “grovel” during the second Test’s fourth day of play.
“No, I don’t think it is distracting (and) no it’s not for me to clarify,” said Bavuma, who missed the opening ODI.
Bavuma heaped appreciation on Marco Jansen whose 39-ball 70 brought South Africa on the brink of a victory in the first ODI.
“From an all-rounder point of view, I don’t know where the rankings sit (but) I am sure Marco Jansen, in any one of the formats will definitely be in a top 10. His contributions, with bat (or) with the ball (and) sometimes even both, they have been immense to our success,” he said.
“He is still a young guy, but he has had a lot of international cricket that is under his belt. He is only growing into his own and becoming a lot more comfortable under his skin.”
Bavuma didn’t place much significance on South Africa’s defeat in the opening ODI. “We were 15 runs (17) short of them. The gap between the batting performances wasn’t a big one. India played well, their two stalwarts stood up but we were not too far off.”
It is up to Cricket South Africa to make sure there are more Test matches against elite nations, according to Bavuma, who has guided South Africa to 11 Test victories in his 12 matches as captain thus far.
“All of us have been crying for more cricket especially against the top nations,” he said.
“The Test series (against India) now, as much as there were two match series, a lot of us would have wanted to see it going to three or four-match series. When it’s a side like India, they would have raised the standard, which would have forced us to raise our standards as well.”
“As players, we don’t get involved when it comes to the scheduling, the negotiation, and all of that. Those are for, I guess, the people in suits, the Cricket South Africa.”
On a more lighthearted note, Bavuma stated that some of the older South African players would like to participate in a four-Test series.
“Some of us are getting a little bit old, so we’re not going to go too long to make another four match Test series against India,” he said.
