Exactly two years after an inglorious World Cup exit, Temba Bavuma found redemption at the Eden Gardens.
Chapter One: 2023
On that fateful night, the consensus was that Bavuma had erred in his decision. He batted first after rain had delayed the start, and Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc had South Africa at 24-4. South Africa recovered, but to only 212, a total that seemed puny when Australia blazed away to 60-0 in six overs.
Not for the first time, however, South Africa had hit back. Australia still needed 20 when they were seven down, with only Adam Zampa and Hazlewood left to bat. A wicket there might have rewritten the fortunes of the World Cup.
Unfortunately, a bruised heel restricted Kagiso Rabada to six overs. Gerald Coetzee did not give up and neither did the packed house in the cauldron of Eden Gardens, but it was not to be. Pat Cummins and Starc got the runs. “Our character came through. It was a dogfight,” Bavuma said at the post-match presentations. He was not exaggerating.
A semi-final exit was not new to South Africa, but the most of the venom on social media was directed to Bavuma. His race became an inevitable point in these jibes. The word “quota” came up again and again.
The comments were characteristic in lack of taste and nuance. Bavuma had broken barriers like few South African Black cricketers before him. “There’s a stereotype that black players should be bowlers,” international cricketer Sinethemba Qeshile had once explained. “The first thing we’re taught is how to bowl. Not a lot of guys actually get taught how to carry a bat until much later.”
Bavuma had not initially grasped the significance of him becoming the first Black man to score a Test hundred for South Africa, at Cape Town in 2016/17. “I didn’t understand it at the beginning,” he told the Wisden Cricket Monthly. “But you can’t ignore our past or the sacrifices that certain people made so that people like myself can have the opportunities that we enjoy today.”
The next significant moment came at Centurion in 2022/23, when Bavuma became South Africa’s first Black captain. At the World Test Championship final in 2025, he led South Africa to their first senior global title since 1998.
Thus, a lot had changed when Bavuma returned to the Eden Gardens.
Chapter two: 2025
South Africa were two wickets away from a win. India needed 47, but against Keshav Maharaj, the match-up was with Axar Patel, one of India’s best players of spin. Axar smashed a four and two sixes before attempting an encore … but was unable to time it.
Bavuma sprinted and sprinted before making a difficult catch look easy. The next ball, South Africa won the Test. “I was able to grab it with my small hands,” the captain underplayed the “crucial moment”.
It was characteristic of the man who had similarly understated his third-innings masterclass that turned out to be decisive: “I am just comfortable with myself and my technique. I stand as still as I can, watch the ball. I have come here wanting to do well … It was about awareness, the leg opening up a little bit.”
South Africa had still not avoided the innings defeat when Bavuma came to bat. Unlike most batters on extreme pitches like these, he trusted his defence. He used the depth of the crease like a master. He stayed back against the experienced Indian spinners, waiting for the ball. When they pitched up, he smothered them.
In between, he found risk-free runs. Ones and twos, mostly, but punctuated by the odd boundary. In the 41st over, even Ravindra Jadeja – who had bowled so well to take four wickets – had little option but to bowl from over the wicket. Bavuma’s impeccable footwork and technique had forced him to abandon his strengths.
Bavuma’s 55 was the only score in excess of forty in the Test. “I have played here before and I understand the conditions, and luck also played a part,” he assessed.
Luck? The broadcasters did show a graphic: he had been in control (either middled or left alone) 79 per cent of the first 113 balls he had faced on a difficult pitch. He was as good as they made them.
The 44-run eighth-wicket stand between Bavuma and Corbin Bosch on the third morning virtually decided the Test. It was certainly more than South Africa’s margin of victory. Rishabh Pant, the stand-in Indian captain, acknowledged its significance.
Bavuma downplayed that as well: “My stand with Bosch was nice. The wicket played better this morning; it wasn’t as extreme.”
Typical. It was almost as if he had not completed a two-year redemption arc at an iconic Test venue, against forces on and off the field.
Postscript
Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant were debating a DRS call for LBW on the first day. The point of impact, combined with Bavuma’s height, became a point of contention.
“Bauna bhi to hai yeh,” reminded Bumrah, referring to Bavuma’s diminutive frame. Bumrah may or may not be sanctioned for the use of the word “bauna” (the ICC Code of Conduct is not specific on this).
In 11 Tests as captain, Bavuma has now led South Africa to ten wins (and a draw) and a global title. He averages 57 in these Tests.
A more appropriate term for him would probably have been the near-similar “bwana”, the Swahili word that roughly translates to “master” or “boss”.
