Courtesy: CSA
Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, who led his team to their first ICC trophy in 27 years earlier this month, has been ruled out of the upcoming two-match Test series against Zimbabwe away from home due to injury. Under his captaincy, South Africa defeated Australia by five wickets in the World Test Championship (WTC) final 2025 earlier this month at Lord’s in London, but he had suffered a left hamstring strain during the contest as well.
The injury happened when Temba Bavuma was batting alongside centurion Aiden Markram in pursuit of the 282-run target in the second innings against Australia, but he continued his stay at the crease despite the discomfort in running between the wickets. As per the press release from Cricket South Africa (CSA), the 35-year-old is set to undergo further scans to find the extent of the injury sustained by him.
Keshav Maharaj named captain of South Africa for Zimbabwe Test tour
In the absence of Temba Bavuma, the responsibility of captaining South Africa in the two-match Test series against Zimbabwe has gone to left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj. Apart from him, CSA have also given rest to some of their star players from the tour to Zimbabwe later this month, including names like Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, and Kagiso Rabada.
With that, there are few youngsters added in the South African Test squad, most prominently Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who has made quite a name for himself in the SA20, the franchise T20 tournament in his home country recently. As far as the replacement for Temba Bavuma in the squad for the Zimbabwe Test tour is concerned, the CSA have decided to name nobody, reducing it to 15 members.
The first Test of the two-match series will be played from June 28 onwards, while the second Test is going to start on July 6, both at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
South Africa’s 15-member squad for Zimbabwe Test tour:
Keshav Maharaj (c), David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Kwena Maphaka, Wiaan Mulder, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Lesego Senokwane, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Verreynne, Codi Yusuf, Lungi Ngidi (second Test)
