Why is South Africa captain Temba Bavuma not playing today’s SA vs ENG 2025 Champions Trophy match?

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma is not part of the team for the 2025 Champions Trophy group-stage match against England at the National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday, March 1. In his absence, Aiden Markram takes over the leadership duties as the Proteas look to seal the final semi-final spot in the competition.

The stand-in captain revealed that South Africa were forced to make changes to their playing XI due to a bout of illness running through the squad, which includes Bavuma. The Proteas have a new-look top-order entirely, with batter Tony de Zorzi also ruled out of the contest.

Star batter Heinrich Klaasen has recovered from his injury that caused him to miss South Africa's win over Afghanistan earlier in the tournament. Right-handed batter Tristan Stubbs also comes into the playing XI.

"We would have had a chase, we are pretty happy to have a chase, we have not yet chased in this competition. There is a bit of illness going around in the camp, two guys Temba and de Zorzi are unavailable and Klassen and Stubbs come in. Unfortunately they miss out but hopefully they recover if we qualify. It rained in Pindi, a few training session, we are ready for the game," Markram said at the toss after England elected to bat first.

Markram has considerable leadership experience across formats, and is already the Proteas' and the Sunrisers Eastern Cape's captain. He has acted as the stand-in captain in Bavuma's absence numerous times, most recently during the bilateral series against Afghanistan in September 2024.

South Africa need a win or avoid a defeat by 207 runs to secure semi-final berth

The Proteas are relatively well-placed ahead of the knockout stage of the tournament. They began their campaign with a win over Afghanistan, while the match against Australia was washed out. Although they are currently level with Afghanistan in terms of points, they have a far superior net run rate of +2.140.

South Africa can claim the top spot with a win, and as far as qualification is concerned, they have to ensure that they do not lose by 207 runs or more. Given that England are batting first, they need to score at least 300 runs to bring the aforementioned equation into play.