Temba Bavuma, the South African captain, had a tough time at Supersport Park in Centurion as he had to leave the field early due to a hamstring injury.
Throughout India’s innings, vice-captain Dean Elgar led the South African assault against the Indian batting order in Temba Bavuma’s absence.
This marks the second occasion in the previous two months that Bavuma has been limited by a hamstring injury, forcing him to quit the field midway through the play. He left the field in Ahmedabad’s match against Afghanistan earlier this year and missed the first two matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 owing to a comparable problem. A former South African opener named Herschelle Gibbs voiced his displeasure with Bavuma’s fitness and his worries about the frequency of his ailments.
Herschelle Gibbs, the former South African opener, expressed concerns about Temba Bavuma’s fitness, labeling him as ‘overweight’ and raising questions about his position in the Proteas squad. Gibbs tweeted, “Ironic that the coach allows some players who are clearly unfit and overweight to play when he started off as proteas trainer in 2009.”
Temba Bavuma is presently receiving medical attention, with the medical team conducting daily evaluations to assess his availability for the ongoing game. After exiting the field on the first day of play, Bavuma underwent scans, which detected a left hamstring strain. His involvement in the current test match remains uncertain.
Temba Bavuma experienced a hard time of two to three months on the field, struggling with hamstring issues. Before the World Cup semi-final against Australia, Bavuma had stated worries about a similar situation but elected to participate in the game regardless. This choice received criticism since he was considered to be compromising his well-being. Shifting the emphasis to the present match, India saw themselves bowled for 245 in the first innings following KL Rahul’s magnificent century in just 133 balls.
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