NO PRESSURE South Africa captain Temba Bavuma says his side will be focussing on playing their best cricket at the Champions Trophy. Picture: Asif Hassan/AFP
Image: Asif Hassan/AFP
Temba Bavuma and his Proteas team will just be focussing on the basics at the Champions Trophy, as his side begin their campaign against Afghanistan in Karachi on Friday.
The only ODI series the Proteas won in the last year came against minnows Ireland.
The other two losses came against Afghanistan and Pakistan. They also recently lost both matches in their Tri-Nation series against Pakistan and New Zealand which ended last week.
A win in their final warmup match against Pakistan Shaheens on Monday would have been more than welcome.
For Bavuma as captain, it will be about him soaking up the pressure and setting the perfect example.
"I'm coming into this Champions Trophy with a little bit of form and confidence in my game,” told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview.
The form he spoke of were scores of 20, 89 and 29 in his last three knocks which included matches in the the Tri-Nation series and the warm-up clash against the Pakistan Shaheens.
“In my mind, there's no unrealistic expectation that I've set for myself. I just want to see myself playing my best cricket, however, that looks like here in Pakistan and for the team. Importantly, ensure that I put my best foot forward from a captaincy point of view.
"World events are pressure-staking on the team and sometimes as captain, you end up taking a little bit more of that heat for the sake of the team. From that perspective, without taking on unnecessary pressure but to put my best foot forward as a leader.”
Despite their decidedly poor results recently, Bavuma said the Proteas would take solace from their previous performances in ICC events over the last couple years instead.
“Firstly, as a group, we're quite confident with our skillsets and ability to get together and play our best cricket. We've shown that in the 2023 World Cup, pretty much a similar group has shown that in the 2024 T20 World Cup as well. We are quite confident from that point of view."
"The quicker we are able to connect, get back to the same page as a team, and remind ourselves of our philosophy and blueprint, the easier it will be for us to see ourselves playing our best cricket. The quicker that we're able to acclimatise to the conditions and get our tactics right and in place, that will also contribute to us getting to the levels of performance that we know we can."
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