New Delhi: KL Rahul-led team India is all set to lock horns against South Africa at Paarl on January 19 in the 1st ODI of the three-match series. The last time when India toured South Africa in 2018, they had defeated Proteas 5-1 in the ODI series in which Virat Kohli had scored 558 runs with three remarkable tons.
South Africa’s newly-appointed skipper Temba Bavuma will surely aim to take momentum into the ODIs from the stunning 2-1 Test series win over Men in Blue.
Last year in March, Bavuma had taken over captaincy from Quinton de Kock to become the first ever black African player to be named as permanent South African skipper.
Ahead of the Ind vs SA ODIs, Temba, in an exclusive interview with Betway, discusses being offered captaincy role in T20 and 50-overs format as it all had happened very quickly for him.
“It wasn’t something that I was expecting. There was obviously anxiety and fear as to how I was going to take the team forward to new heights,” Bavuma exclusively told Betway.
“It can be a challenge to combine the two, but you have to make sure that you’re mentally fresh. The captaincy can clutter your mind. It can be easy to play the game in your head and you don’t want that,” he added.
Bavuma revealed that his close relationship with several of his team-mates helped him a lot as captain.
“I was fortunate in that most of the guys, especially the senior guys, I’ve played with from school level,” he says. “We understand each other and, most importantly, the respect is there.
“I spend a lot of time with KG [Rabada] on and off the field. Shamo [Tabraiz Shamsi] and Quinton [de Kock], too. These are important players to have good relationships with as a captain,” the star batter spoke to Betway.
South Africa cricket team’s form as a team has been quite patchy when it comes to playing ODI format but skipper Bavuma believes his team is ‘desperate to build on that Test series win’ against some of the ‘best players on the planet’.
“The guys don’t need any more motivation – you’re coming up against a team like India.
“We’re desperate to build on that Test series win because India have generally had the better of us in recent years. They’ve got some of the best players on the planet who are likely to go well in all conditions.
“We understand the cricketing rivalry between the sides. These are series you want to be involved in and opponents you want to test yourselves against.”
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