Bavuma focuses on job at hand in India

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma has put the disappointment of the SA20 snub behind him and says he is fully focused on the T20 series against India, starting on Wednesday, and October’s World Cup in Australia.

SA start the three-match T20 series against India at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, which will be followed by three ODIs. It is the last series before SA arrive Down Under, where they will have another shot at their first major trophy success.

On Wednesday’s series-opener, Bavuma said he was not entertaining distractions and sideshows and was focused on being the best possible leader for the team.

“The focus for me, honestly, is on the World Cup and making sure we are in the best space possible going into that tournament,” he said. “Everything else I try not to give much attention or energy to — at the moment the focus is to serve the team as best as I can.

“All other distractions and sideshows are stuff I will deal with from a personal perspective. I am here with the team and as long as I am still wearing this Proteas shirt, I will lead the best I can.”

SA’s attention will be on Indian batting mainstays Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who Bavuma said the Proteas would have to find a way to blunt.

“Those are big names with pedigree behind them,” Bavuma said. “As you would have seen in the last while in terms of their performances, they have boosted the confidence of the team.

“We expect them to come on and lead from the front, which is good practice for the team. It will be good for us to come up against their best. We expect those guys to bring a lot of confidence and the X-factor to their team.”

India are expected to unleash fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the Proteas.

“Facing the opening bowlers is quite challenging, they do get the new ball to move quite a bit in the power play, which is probably a bit more than what we are used to in SA. That is quite a challenge you have to manoeuvre about. Probably the key is to limit the damage by not allowing the wickets to fall early in the game and get some momentum going.”

The series is important for SA as they look to fine-tune their departments.

“This is our last series before the World Cup — obviously we will be looking for this series to fill whatever gaps we feel there are in the team,” Bavuma said. “We have guys who have been playing a lot of cricket and I guess we will be managing their intensity.

“The last time we were here, we were tested in all departments of our game and I think we answered well.

“You mention the boundary count, it is something you can expect here in India, to hit sixes and fours because of the small fields. I expect a good and strong competitive series.”