When Rohit Sharma played the 2007 T20 World Cup, Temba Bavuma was in school. There’s not much difference in age between the South Africa captain and the Indian ODI legend. At 35, Bavuma is just three years younger than Rohit, but the latter started early, and he is still going strong.
The ongoing ODI series is all about Rohit and Virat Kohli. The next 50-over World Cup is still two years away and from that perspective, these three games in isolation border on the inconsequential. But the Pied Pipers are wooing the fans and Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium here would be packed to the rafters tomorrow, the match day.
Digressing a bit from the series, there’s a bigger picture. South Africa’s upsurge in Tests has thrown open the debate if they should be playing longer Test series against India and other top teams rather than two-match soirees. Bavuma passed the onus to the men in blazers.
“I would love that to happen, yeah all of us have been crying for more cricket especially against the top nations,” the South Africa skipper told reporters here on Tuesday. “I think even in this (recently concluded) Test series, I think a lot of us would have wanted to see it go to three or four matches. Maybe, India would have raised their standards, which would have forced us to raise our standards as well.”
South Africa are fresh from winning their first Test series in India in 25 years, but Bavuma spoke like a leader, going beyond the micro part and looking at things at a macro level. “As players the only thing we can do is to keep controlling our performances out there, and hopefully by being competitive, we would attract the top teams to play against us,” he said. “As players we don’t get involved when it comes to scheduling negotiations and all of that. Those are for the people in suits. But yeah, we would love to play more (Tests) in the near future.”
Coming back to Rohit winning a World Cup on South African soil 18 years ago and Bavuma still attending his school, respect oozed. “I was in school when Rohit played in the 2007 World Cup in South Africa,” said Bavuma. “These guys (Rohit and Kohli) bring a wealth of experience and it makes the series a lot more exciting.”
The two Titans of Indian cricket were not there in the Test series. They form the bedrock of the team’s batting in the ODIs. From the visitors’ perspective, do the preparations and mindset change? “In terms of preparation, yes, it’s very different,” said Bavuma. “I guess you weren’t playing Virat and Rohit (in the Tests) because they weren’t in the team. So, in the Test side, they weren’t part of the analysis sessions. Now with the ODI stuff, they are part of the analysis sessions. So I guess that’s the difference. From a mindset point of view, nothing changes. We want to win the game, and I think that is not influenced by who is in their starting line-up (playing XI).”
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