Last Update on: November 21st, 2023 at 11:11 am
Despite leading South Africa to the semifinals of the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, their captain Temba Bavuma faced severe criticism.
Not many were expecting the Proteas to make it to the semifinals in the World Cup. However, the Temba Bavuma-led side exceeded all the expectations and qualified for the last four after finishing second on the league table. They won 7 of their nine games before a loss against eventual winners Australia in the semifinal ended their run.
The impressive run in the World Cup, however, did not stop the criticism from Temba Bavuma. His captaincy as well as his place in the team was constantly questioned as he struggled to lead his team from the front. The right-handed batter managed to score only 145 runs in 8 games with a top score of 35. He averaged 18 and a strike-rate of 73 in the World Cup.
Temba Bavuma hits back at critics:
With the World Cup done and dusted, Temba Bavuma has hit back at his critics. In an interview with The Daily Maverick, the under-fire South Africa captain said that he would have happily stepped down as the captain if even one player had asked him to do so.
“I have said it from the beginning that if any of the guys stood there and said, ‘Temba, you are not the man for the job as captain,’ then I would happily walk away. These are the bunch of guys who we have been together since 2020. We know each other through and through, and we know what we play for. I am not the guy who is on Twitter or Facebook,” said Temba Bavuma.
“I don’t know what the metric is to judge someone if they’re captaining well. We won the most games in the group stage out of any South African team. We beat teams that haven’t been beaten in a while in World Cups so what metrics are we going to use to judge whether a guy is using the job as the captain?” he added.
