Straight outta Langa
South Africa’s cricket captain Temba Bavuma is constantly asked to prove himself. And he has – over and over again.
Niren Tolsi in Cape Town
South Africa has beaten India in an away Test cricket series for the first time in 25 years. The 2-0 victory in late November, sealed at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, is a crowning achievement for captain Temba Bavuma. During his captaincy, he’s had to convince critics – and racists – that a Black man belonged at the highest level of South Africa’s national cricket team.
Bavuma honed his playing style and temperament on Rubusana Street in Cape Town’s Langa township, where he grew up, not in the elite former whitesonly schools he would later attend on scholarship. At Eden Gardens, he scored a patient, gritty 55 runs on an unpredictable pitch on which no other batsman had reached 40.
“What you saw in Kolkata came from the street cricket he played in Langa,” Bavuma’s uncle Tengo Sokanyile told The Continent. “He would bat and occupy the crease for two hours, never getting out, because he knew if he did he would have to wait four to six hours to bat again.”
For Black cricket lovers like Sokanyile, who introduced his nephew to the game, Bavuma’s achievements affirm the significance of the township and Black cricket scene. South Africa’s white cricket establishment and media has long ignored and even attempted to erase this reality, labelling players like Bavuma as “quota” players or diversity hires.
It wasn’t just Bavuma’s playing talent and skill on display in India. His leadership was too. At a crucial moment when Indian batsman Washington Sundar looked set to take the game away from South Africa, Bavuma brought on part-time bowler Aiden Markram to turn the game around. Then there was that cool over-the-shoulder catch to get rid of India’s final batsman, Axar Patel, which sealed the game.
After the match, Jasprit Bumrah – arguably the best fast-bowler in the world at the moment – hung his arm around Bavuma in post-match commiserations. The rest of the Indian team followed suit, lingering over their handshakes with the South African captain.
Bavuma had finally arrived in India.
It’s the hardest place for a cricketer to receive recognition. For almost two decades, fans have preferred the big-hitting 20-over version of the game to the classical five-day one that best suits Bavuma’s batting approach and technique.
Earlier this year, Bavuma spoke about the pressures of being “under the microscope”. He felt that he – and other Black players – could not have a good or bad run of form without race entering the conversation. That dynamic leaves Black players with constant performance anxiety, not just to be good at the game, but so great that they silence racists – and become inspirational figures. “We’ve almost accepted that you have to be better than normal,” Bavuma said, comparing the pressure to an expectation that Black players will “walk on water.”
“Your performances have to be at a certain level all the time,” he said. Double standards notwithstanding, Bavuma has risen to the challenge. Since assuming the captaincy, he has averaged 57 in Test matches, delivered the World Test Championship to his country, and become the first captain in Test history to win 11 of his first 12 matches in charge.