Faf du Plessis earmarks Temba Bavuma to fill AB de Villiers' shoes in South Africa Test squad

Sport360 staff 07:22 04/07/2018
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  • ABD retired from international cricket this May.

    With South Africa’s No4 slot lying vacant following AB de Villiers’ retirement, skipper Faf du Plessis has earmarked Temba Bavuma as the man to fill the batting stalwart’s enormous boots.

    In a move that sent shockwaves through South African cricket, De Villiers called time on all formats of the international game earlier this May. The Proteas will now begin life after the maverick’s retirement when they take on Sri Lanka in a two-Test series beginning on July 12.

    Ahead of the team’s departure for Sri Lanka, du Plessis spoke about the batsmen who he believes can take over from De Villiers. If the words of the skipper are anything to go by, then expect Temba Bavuma to take up the No4 slot for South Africa in the Test series.

    “AB has only played the last one or two series for this Test team, so he has actually not been playing for a while,” du Plessis said.

    “It will be a nice opportunity for Temba or somebody else to put his peg in the ground and make the position his own again.”

    Bavuma is the captain's pick for the No4 slot.

    Bavuma is the captain’s pick for the No4 slot.

    “Number four will probably be a good position for him (Bavuma).”

    Bavuma has scored one century so far for South Africa in his 29-match Test career. The 28-year-old right-hander has amassed 1, 395 runs in 46 innings at an average of nearly 35. He made his debut for the Proteas in December, 2014 against the West Indies.

    The South Africa skipper stated that the middle-order could see some shuffling on the turning tracks in Sri Lanka.

    “There will be some good discussions in the team. Obviously, when you go to the subcontinent, the hardest places to bat will be in the middle because you come in facing the spinning and the reverse swinging ball,” he said.

    “So what I think we will discuss is that we will try and get our best players of spin in the middle periods to try and counter that.  So if that gives an opportunity to change our batting lineup a little bit, we will definitely be looking into that,” he added.

    The South African will play a two-day warm up match which gets underway on Saturday before taking on the hosts in the first Test at Galle on July 12.

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