Social media went bos on Wednesday after Proteas captain Temba Bavuma was apparently caught sleeping on the job at the Cricket World Cup’s Captain’s Day in Ahmedabad.
Bavuma joined the rest of the world’s skippers ahead of the 50-over tournament’s start this weekend, as they answered questions from fans and journalists.
With the bulk of the questions aimed at India captain Rohit Sharma and his Pakistan counterpart Babar Azam ahead of their blockbuster clash next week, images appeared online afterwards suggesting Bavuma fell asleep during the event.
Temba Bavuma wasn't actually sleepy, he made this gesture in response to all nonsense questions by journalists directed only at Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam like all other captains didn't exist.
— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) October 4, 2023
Indian mainstream sports journalists are absolute mediocre low IQ reporters. pic.twitter.com/0FtKc0iiCB
And cricket fans were having a ball at the expense of the 33-year-old SA skipper, who only rejoined his teammates from South Africa on Tuesday after leaving the Proteas camp last week for family reasons.
England’s Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) tweeted: “Temba Bavuma has just fallen asleep in the World Cup captain’s conference.”
Daughter of India legend Sachin Tendulkar, Sarah (@i_saratendulkar) also tweeted a pic of Bavuma apparently sleeping and captioned it: “Temba bavuma falls asleep in captain’s round table conference .”
king_kohli_FanClub (@RavindraNain29) added: “Bavuma sleeping at captains meet. Such a funny guy he is who never fails to give content to memers.”
Bii2 @realbii2 took it a step further and wrote: “From this photo we can see how serious South Africa has come to this World Cup.
“Temba Bavuma knows that we are just space fillers.”
Taif Rahman (@taif_twts) was supportive, saying: “When everyone is AWAKE, the king SLEEPS.”
@Keahwaa, meanwhile, offered: “Temba Bavuma is actually suffering from Narcolepsy a neurological disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness & in some cases, sudden & uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during inappropriate times or situations, such as in important gatherings or while driving.”
When everyone is AWAKE, the king👑 SLEEPS.#Tembabavuma pic.twitter.com/J4dHgRASkz
— Taif Rahman (@taif_twts) October 4, 2023
Bavuma, though, says he never slept, with @TembaBavuma tweeting: “I blame the camera angle, I wasn’t sleeping.”
Whatever the case, South Africa will be hoping their captain is wakker and oppit when they open their pursuit of first-time glory against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za