The heat is turning up on Proteas limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma and he has to come good in the third and final T20I against India in Indore at 3.30pm on Tuesday.
Even before scoring a seven-ball duck in the second match which SA lost by 15 runs as India wrapped up the series 2-0 on Sunday, the 32-year-old was already under pressure.
Proteas legend Makhaya Ntini told Cricinfo’s T20 Timeout programme: “[Bavuma’s form] is one of those things [coach] Mark Boucher needs to think of.
“He’s got the players around him. And if Temba is failing, Reeza Hendricks should be thinking this is an opportunity for me to come back into the side – especially with the four fifties he’s scored in a row.
“Those are things that Bavuma himself should be thinking about. Where do I go from here? Especially, as a captain you need to lead from the front… when you’re not scoring, it becomes hard for you.”
Averaging 24.43 in the format and having scored only one 50 in 27 matches, calls for Hendricks, who scored four 50s in his last five T20 innings for South Africa, to be included in the place of the captain are growing.
Not selected for any of the franchises for the inaugural SA20 tournament was a big blow to Bavuma – on the eve of departing for India.
To then score two ducks in a row before the final match before a World Cup, means the South African team’s captain’s confidence has to be low.
This is his laaste kans to win back some lost confidence before jetting off to Australia.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za