Temba Bavuma, the talented South African captain and batting star, has faced quite a bit of negative chatter, especially from Bangladesh, about his height and performance. While this criticism has eased up a bit, it’s not entirely gone. Last year, when he joined the Bangladesh Premier League after not being picked in his home country’s T20 league, it sparked fresh discussions about him. His performances in ODIs and T20s often drew some unwanted attention too. Even as captain of the national team, he found it tough to get into two matches.
But let’s focus on the positives! Temba’s performance over the past year has been absolutely outstanding, proving he’s a world-class batter. He recently climbed to the 10th position in the ICC Test batting rankings—what a fantastic achievement!
In his latest series against Sri Lanka, he truly shone, scoring an impressive 327 runs. His innings of 113, 70, 66, and 78 were just brilliant! So far in 2024, he’s racked up 432 runs in just four Tests. Overall, across 61 Tests, he has accumulated 3,429 runs, featuring three centuries and 24 half-centuries. That’s some serious talent!
Temba has also been doing really well in the ODI format. In just 41 matches, he has scored 1,611 runs, including five centuries and four half-centuries. In 36 T20 matches, he has managed 670 runs, with one half-century under his belt.
According to the latest ICC rankings, Temba is sitting pretty at 10th place with 715 points. After his impressive double fifty in the second Test against Sri Lanka, he’s ready to climb even higher! With two more Tests coming up for South Africa next year, he definitely has plenty of chances to boost his ranking even more. Keep rooting for him!
