Bavuma’s Indian summer in November: Favourite Hindi word – ‘theek hai’ and choosing butter chicken over period period chicken
A 2-0 Test series win sealed, some statesmanlike press conferences and now entering the key segment of the India tour, for ODIs, Temba Bavuma is turning heads and hearts.
AB de Villiers admitted Bavuma’s success has caught his skepticism by surprise, and he proceeded to compare his soft-spoken leadership to MS Dhoni’s.
Not frivolous, but Bavuma can indulge broadcasters playing along in silly QnAs, and answer the typical life&death posers like if he likes tea better or coffee, with a straight face. It’s the latter, he told Star Sports who put him through dibbly-dobblies ahead of the start of the Ranchi match.
When asked if he liked butter chicken better or peri peri chicken (marinated in chilli, garlic, lemon, spices, with South African-Portuguese origins, made famous by Nando’s), he chose butter chicken.
“Burger or pizza?” Sadly, he chose burgers.
For the ‘when in Rome….’ staple question, Bavuma would tell Star, “Theek hai. That’s the only word I like in Hindi.”
In cricketing batsmen habits, he said he followed the ‘Sock, shoe then the pads’ order of readying to come out to bat. He would look down at his feet, recall the drill, when asked if he stride with left or right foot first. “The left leg first.”
Star asked Bavuma about a keepsake from a fan, and the Proteas chief recalled, “It’s an old drawing of how I looked ten years ago. I looked a bit weird, but I had all the hair on the head, and nothing on the (beard) face. I did keep the gift.”
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When asked where he would wind up if not a cricketer, Bavuma responded with every athlete’s nightmare, “If I was not a cricketer, I’d probably be stuck in a corporate job.”
When asked what rule from a different sport he’d like getting incorporated into cricket, Bavuma said, “Rolling substitutions from rugby. Bring someone on and someone off. You get a bit of break,” he noted.
For the weirdest bowling action he’s come across, Bavuma kept it safe, and chose a friend – the mystery googly spinner. “Tabraiz Shamsi. A bit of frog in a blender – funny guy, friend of mine,” he said.
Bit like MS Dhoni
It’s not just the Indians who have found the World Test Championship winning captain to be a revelation. Even his own South Africans are slowly admitting admiration for the soft-spoken skipper.
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AB de Villiers was candid in admitting on the recent chat with former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin that he had been ‘surprised’ by the success and had earlier been hesitant about the South Africa’s choice. In 2023, Bavuma became the first Black Test captain.
AB admitted that TB commands respect in the dressing room and handles pressure calmly. “He has surprised all of us. I’ve spoken to my friends about it for years. For the first few years after he was named captain, I was hesitant to say I was confident about the call. Maybe it comes back to the old phrase: You can’t judge a book by its cover,” de Villiers told Ashwin.
SA used to tall imposing captains like Graeme Smith, had clearly been forced with his success, to change their opinion about how good leadership could look.
“He doesn’t look like this big Graeme Smith with the aura and intimidating presence. Temba is a small, soft-spoken guy; he hardly ever raises his voice. It shows you that different styles of captaincy can be successful,” AB said.
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The former captain even compared the world winning Test captain to MS Dhoni, though Bavuma still needs to win global white-ball ICC events to cap his career. But AB reckoned the personalities matched.
“I think it was similar with MS Dhoni back in the day. I hardly ever heard his voice. He was calm and didn’t speak much, but when he did, people listened. I think it might be the same with Temba. He earns respect by being calm. It’s absolutely incredible. He has taken me aback with the success he has achieved,” he said.
