Temba Bavuma’s unreal Test captaincy run — unbeaten so far with an infinite W-L ratio, making him South Africa’s standout leader.
Before the start of the two-match Test series in India, South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma highlighted how they would prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Two weeks later, they made a journey from darkness into the light. The Proteas claimed only their second Test series victory in India after 25 long years. In between, they faced three series defeats, two of which came in the consecutive attempts.
The World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 winning captain, Bavuma, hasn’t lost a Test match yet. In 12 Tests under his leadership, the Proteas have earned 11 victories with a win-loss ratio of infinity. His only drawn result came in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in mid 2024 due to persistent rain.
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Temba Bavuma walks the talk with bat in crunch moments
Since the beginning of 2023, Temba Bavuma has been South Africa’s second leading run-getter in the longest format. The right-handed batter has recorded 1065 runs in 23 innings at an average of 53.35. He has celebrated three centuries and six half-centuries and is only behind Aiden Markram’s 1183 runs at 38.16.
The limelight has been on Simon Harmer’s 17 wickets in the series and Marco Jansen’s all-round performance in the second Guwahati Test. But the series-defining moment was Bavuma’s batting at Eden Gardens in the opening contest. Across the eight innings of the two-week-long series, that half-century remained the masterclass.
The visitors had nearly crumbled at 91/7, with Bavuma standing alone at the other end. Both the quality spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav – sent the top and middle order of the Rainbow Nation back into the hut. The tourists’ lead had just crossed the 60-run mark by the start of the third day’s play.
Later on came the Bavuma smartness. For every delivery, he kept getting lower in his stance. With the ball not bouncing much, he had a plan to counter the quality spin attack as he kept applying the sweep. He didn’t read Jadeja but nailed the sweep through square leg for a boundary in the large vacant space.
The Cape Town-born didn’t even have an idea of Kuldeep’s leg spin and googly but he was quick enough to adjust the length. When the India left-arm wrist spinner took the ball away, Bavuma realized the short length. He rocked back and drove it handsomely through covers for another boundary.
Rishabh Pant, the stand-in captain for the second innings of the Kolkata Test, panicked and went into his defensive captaincy. To dry up the runs, he pushed back the square leg and long-on. They invited more big shots from Bavuma and Corbin Bosch in the morning session of the third day. But the former started to rotate the strike, and all of a sudden, they breached the 100-run lead.
With a streaky boundary, the 35-year-old notched up his 26th Test half-century. It was the only half-century in the entire clash, which reflected the SA captain’s exposure to shouldering his side out of danger. Out of the 54 overs of the Proteas’ batting, Bavuma himself faced around 22 overs.
“I think that was important – to try to make whatever adjustments I need to with conditions here in the subcontinent. I spent a lot of time on my feet in the field, and it was a good exercise.” Bavuma at the pre-match press conference in Kolkata.
What an inspired appointment Temba Bavuma has been. Quietly, and with dignity, he is taking South African cricket to wonderful heights.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 26, 2025
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Under Temba Bavuma, South Africa stand as a unit
Heading into the India trip, South Africa’s premier pacer, Kagiso Rabada was injured, and he didn’t feature in either fixtures. That meant the Proteas had to go with those fast bowlers, who didn’t have any experience of playing Tests in India. Their veteran left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj’s struggling red-ball record in India is well documented, with only 12 wickets in seven innings at 57.75.
Meanwhile, the other spinner, Simon Harmer, was back in the country after 10 years. There were several questions regarding the bowling department, but they had the constant answer – Bavuma’s captaincy.
During India’s second innings, the SA captain took the gamble to bring Markram against a well-set Washington Sundar. And it paid off straightaway with the off-spinner finding the southpaw’s outside edge into the slip corridor. Sundar was set against the Harmer-Maharaj duo and didn’t anticipate the sharp turn with the lack of pace from Markram.
Bavuma’s use of Harmer in both games was exceptional. The off-spinner kept bowling long spells from one end and never allowed the batters to settle. During the second Test, he bowled in a partnership with Jansen as his short ball planning broke India’s back in the middle order.
“He has won 10 out of 11 Test matches as skipper for South Africa and has won a World Test Championship for them. He doesn’t get the kind of credit other international captains receive.” India’s former head coach, Anil Kumble, lauded Bavuma’s captaincy.
Bavuma is a team man. He doesn’t make decisions on his own. His sprint back to the dressing room to discuss their plan regarding the follow-on in the Guwahati Test was proof of it. Under him, there is a calm atmosphere and well-known responsibilities of the individual players.
It’s a tough but true reality that South Africa won’t play a Test match till next October in 2026 in the current schedule. That will also be their first home Test match after being crowned the WTC title. And two out of the three successive home red-ball series will be acid tests against Australia and England. But South Africa will be back in their clinical instincts under their leader, Temba Bavuma.
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