South Africa reaffirmed their status as world champions in Test cricket by doing something that is regarded by many as one of the most difficult challenges in the sport – defeat India in a a series in India. South Africa ended up whitewashing India 2-0 in the series and captain Temba Bavuma said that he had spoken about it with head coach Shukri Conrad for months on end leading up to it.
“We have always wanted to prepare ourselves for these types of encounters. Between the two of us, there were months on end speaking about India. What type of team and players did we want? And what did we need to do to be successful? It wasn’t a case of getting to India and saying, “Okay, how are we going to do things?” The seed was planted long before the Test series,” said Bavuma in his column for ESPNCricinfo.
Bavuma had himself experienced just how difficult it can be for a South African side in India. Of the eight times that the Proteas had toured India since their readmission to international cricket before this year, they had won a series just once, which was back in 1999/00 under the captaincy of Hansie Cronje. Of the 19 Tests played between the two sides in India, South Africa had won just five.“My first tour to India was back in 2015. India claimed the Test series 3-0 and I only played in the fourth and final Test, in Delhi. In 2019, it was really not a great one. We got hammered 3-0 in the series, with India winning by an innings twice,” said Bavuma.
This was an Indian side still smarting from the wounds of their series defeat at home against New Zealand and devoid of the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara – key figures who fuelled their historic winning streak in Tests at home between 2013 and 2024. However, Bavuma said that it remained a monumental task for South Africa. At the same time, though, he said that South Africa weren’t overawed.
“Comparing the Tests, I preferred the second match, in Guwahati, because that is proper Test cricket. Batting in the first Test, in Kolkata, wasn’t easy. We had anticipated mentally that we might play on rank turners, so we were able to accept what was in front of us and weren’t overwhelmed by the situation,” said Bavuma
“”Prepare for the worst, hope for the best” will always be my mantra. But it’s important that when you get the best, like we did in the second Test, you take advantage. For me personally, my biggest gripe with myself was that when conditions were in my favour in the first innings of the second Test, I wasn’t able to really cash in per se with the bat. Selfishly, as a batter you know that in conditions like that, if you get in, there is a real opportunity for you to get big runs,” he said.
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