Temba Bavuma says he is “easy whichever way is best for the team” as South Africa look to level the three-match ODI series in India on Thursday. The captain missed Sunday’s opener in Hyderabad with a stomach bug but declared himself fit after an extended net in Raipur and will return to a batting order that is still being shuffled.
Head coach Rob Walter and his staff went with Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton at the top, sliding Quinton de Kock to No.3. The pair have shared only seven ODI innings, producing 306 runs at 43.71. By contrast, de Kock and Bavuma have opened 19 times since 2016 for 1,072 runs at 56.42, the second-best stand for South Africa in that period. Those numbers suggest a straightforward call, yet the skipper remains non-committal.
“Where I fit in, generally being in that top three, I’m easy whichever way is best for the team, as long as I’m still contributing,” Bavuma said. “At the moment, it’s about creating depth. There is versatility in that guys who generally bat at the top of their order have used in the middle.”
That versatility is being tested. Without Heinrich Klaasen (retired), Tristan Stubbs (omitted) and David Miller (rested from this tour), the squad’s middle order is largely made up of players who usually open in domestic cricket. Matthew Breetzke, another natural opener, filled the No.4 role on Sunday; Tony de Zorzi batted five; Dewald Brevis slotted in at six. Reserve batter Rubin Hermann is also a top-three specialist.
“Going back to South Africa, there’s always that element of batsmanship that you need. I know there’s a big craze about guys hitting sixes in the middle order, but you need a little bit of batsmanship. A guy like Tony, he has the characteristics,” Bavuma explained. “I guess now it’s just to keep putting on the performances to justify why he should do that.”
De Zorzi has 688 ODI runs at 36.21 and strikes at 92. He rotates against spin and can bat deep, attributes the selectors believe will matter on slow pitches and, longer term, at the 2027 World Cup on home soil. South Africa have fewer than a dozen ODIs scheduled before that tournament, most of them at home, so management view this series as valuable trial space.
“Every game we play now is a big lead up opportunity. It’s about filling in the gaps with guys who have left,” Bavuma said.
Whether those gaps are plugged by reverting to the tried-and-tested de Kock-Bavuma partnership or persisting with the newer combinations will be known at the toss. Either way, South Africa’s focus is clear: square the series while widening their options for the future.
