Temba Bavuma to miss World Cup warm-up games, to travel back home for personal reasons

In a major development for Cricket South Africa, it was announced that ODI skipper Temba Bavuma will be missing the two World Cup warm-up matches that the Proteas are scheduled to play soon.

Before the start of the World Cup, South Africa will compete against Afghanistan and New Zealand on September 29 and October 2, respectively, in warm-up games for the marquee tournament. However, they will be without the services of skipper Bavuma, as he had to travel back home due to personal reasons. 

The absence of Bavuma could come back to haunt South Africa; however, currently, he will only be absent for the warm-up games, and only time will tell whether he will return to compete in the World Cup or not. Furthermore, it was announced that star batter Aiden Markram will be leading South Africa in Bavuma’s absence. Cricket South Africa took to Twitter to relay the news to their followers. 

“#CWC23 TEAM UPDATE Proteas ODI Captain Temba Bavuma will travel back home due to family reasons Bavuma misses 2 #CWC23 warm-up matches vs Afghanistan, vs New Zealand, Markram will captain in his absence,” Proteas Men tweeted. 

🟢#CWC23 TEAM UPDATE 🟡

🏏Proteas ODI Captain Temba Bavuma will travel back home due to family reasons

Bavuma misses 2️⃣ #CWC23 warm-up matches

🆚️Afghanistan 🇦🇫
🆚️New Zealand 🇳🇿

Markram will captain in his absence #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/iC3PwcSPrY

— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) September 28, 2023

South Africa come on the back of confident victories

South Africa will be feeling especially confident coming into the World Cup 2023, as the side recently defeated Australia in a five-match ODI series. After losing the first two games, South Africa were sensational in the remaining clashes, as they registered three wins in the last three games to clinch the series.

After their warm-up games, the Proteas will begin their World Cup campaign by taking on Sri Lanka on Saturday, October 7, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Coming on the back of brilliant wins, the side will be hopeful of a similar performance in the early stages of the World Cup and get off to a positive start to the marquee event. It could be interesting to see how the side fares without the services of Bavuma.