During the opening day of the Boxing Day Test against India, South Africa’s captain, Temba Bavuma, sufffered a hamstring injury while trying to stop the ball from going to the boundary. Bavuma strained his left hamstring while attempting to stop a shot from Indian batter Virat Kohli.
The incident occurred in the 20th over when Kohli hit a fuller delivery from Marco Jansen through extra cover. Bavuma, positioned at mid-off, chased the ball, causing damage to his hamstring. As he neared the ball, he began limping and eventually had to leave the field.
In Bavuma’s absence, Dean Elgar, who is playing his final series of his Test career, took over the captaincy. The incident prompted criticism from former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs, who called Bavuma ‘unfit’ and ‘overweight’ in a post on twitter.
Gibbs slammed the coaches who allow players he deemed unfit and overweight to play, especially considering the coach’s background as the Proteas’ trainer in 2009. “Ironic that the coach allows some players who are clearly unfit and overweight to play when he started off as proteas trainer in 2009,” wrote Gibbs.
During the course of the day, Bavuma was sent for scans after suffering a left hamstring strain. According to the commentators, the injury was revealed during the match. An ICC release stated that he will continue to undergo medical evaluations and a call on his further participation in the Test will only be made later.
Bavuma played with an injured right hamstring in the last match before this, the semi-final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup against South Africa in India last month.
Bavuma’s history with hamstring
Temba Bavuma also suffered a hamstring injury towards the business end of ICC World Cup 2023 and was unfit during the semi-finals match against Australia.