Temba Bavuma Captaincy Records - ODIs & T20Is

Temba Bavuma is the current white-ball captain of South Africa in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and T20 Internationals (T20Is). He became the country’s first ever full-time black captain at international level.

To lead a country like South Africa, which has a serious history with the issue of racism, is peculiar and challenging at the same time.

In March 2021, Bavuma was named the captain of South Africa's limited-overs format and also deputy to Dean Elgar in Test cricket.

Both Bavuma and Elgar replaced Quinton de Kock, who was named the successor of Faf du Plessis in white-ball cricket and asked to lead the Test team in a stopgap arrangement.

The Lions player's appointment made him the first black African player as the permanent skipper of the Proteas men's team.

Temba Bavuma captaincy journey

Bavuma's first assignment was the Pakistan limited-overs series which South Africa lost by 1-2 margin at home. He sustained a hamstring injury and was ruled out of the T20I series. Wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen was asked to lead the side in the four-match T20Is in Bavuma's absence.

Bavuma scored his maiden T20I fifty - 72 off 51 balls - during the third T20I against Ireland in Belfast. It was also his first half-century as the captain of South Africa and the team swept the series with a 3-0 win.

In September 2021, South Africa toured Sri Lanka to play six white-ball fixtures - three ODIs and as many T20Is. Bavuma injured his right thumb in the first ODI and later it turned into a fracture which ruled him out of the remaining series. Keshav Maharaj led South Africa in two ODIs and three T20Is in Bavuma's absence.

Bavuma had a surgery for his thumb to make himself available to lead the Proteas in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Under Bavuma, South Africa were a tough competitors as they won four games in a row despite losing their first match to Australia in Group 1.

South Africa's main highlight of the event was defeating England by 10 runs even though they missed a semi-final spot because of inferior net-run rate to Australia.

In the middle of the tournament, Bavuma earned praise for his way of handling the case of senior player Quinton de Kock, who refused to take the knee after CSA issued a directive in support to the 'Black Lives Matter' moment.

Under Bavuma, South Africa whitewashed India 3-0 in the ODI series in their own den in January 2022. However, two months later they lost to Bangladesh with a 1-2 margin in ODIs.

In June 2022, South Africa toured India to play five T20Is. They started with two staright wins before losing the next two. Bavuma suffered an elbow injury and was out of the fifth T20I. However, the series ended in a 2-2 stalemate after rains washed away the final match.

Bavuma missed the complete tour of England in 2022 as he did not recovered from his elbow injury. He returned to lead the side in the second tour of India but missed the last two ODIs because of illness.

Bavuma was named captain of South Africa for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia despite question marks were hanging by thread regarding his dismal batting form.

Temba Bavuma ODI captaincy record

Temba Bavuma T20I captaincy record