IND vs SA Test: Temba Bavuma engages in fitness drills as South Africa aim for a strong beginning at Eden Gardens

While his teammates were engaged in an intense nets session, Temba Bavuma completed his running routine, did some shadow practice, and later joined the nets. Bavuma had missed the start of South Africa’s World Test Championship title defence against Pakistan- as he was facing a calf strain, but returned to action last week in the second unofficial Test against India A in Bengaluru.

Temba Bavuma is expected to replace Dewald Brevis, who managed only 46 runs in two Tests in Pakistan. Tony de Zorzi, South Africa’s top run-getter in that series with a century and fifty and is a good player of spin, will likely be shuffled from the No 4 position he had occupied in Bavuma’s absence.Coach Shukri Conrad hailed Bavuma as the team’s key player and said their drawn series in Pakistan without him was a massive boost.

“Temba’s massive for us, he’s our best player. It’s as simple as that, which makes winning a Test match in Pakistan so much better for us, that we were able to do it without our best player. So a lot of feel-good, a lot of confidence. And if you take the last two years maybe, he’s been one of the best players in the world. So his record speaks for itself,” Conrad said.

“The calmness he brings to the batting unit, his leadership, his quiet demeanour. We get a lot of feel-good from that and he certainly brings a lot of confidenceAnd we’re thrilled that he got through the A game as well as he did. I remember speaking to him after the first or second day when he got a first ball. We were hoping that he’d get some time out in the middle of the second innings, which he did,” he added.

South Africa squad for Test series:
Temba Bavuma (C), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne.