'Unfit And Overweight': Injured South Africa Captain Temba Bavuma Under Attack From Ex Player

South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma sustained an injury to his left hamstring while fielding against India in the second session of the first Test match in Centurion on Tuesday, according to ESPNcricinfo. Following the injury, the 33-year-old was taken to a hospital for scans, where the initial reports revealed that he suffered an injury to his hamstring. The hospital added that he would go through further "medical evaluations" to make sure he could take part in the long-format game or not. According to ESPNcricinfo, a Cricket South Africa statement said he will "undergo daily medical evaluations to determine" if he will play any further role in the match.

Bavuma suffered the injury during the 20th over of India's first inning. While chasing the ball off a shot from Virat Kohli's bat, the Proteas skipper managed to stop the ball but unfortunately injured his left hamstring while saving. Following the incident, Bavuma walked off the field immediately.

If the skipper is unable to come to the crease to bat, then the hosts will be a player short for the rest of the first Test match since Bavuma cannot be replaced due to an external injury. He will also be doubtful for the second Test match against India, which will start on January 3 in Cape Town.

"Ironic that the coach allows some players who are clearly unfit and overweight to play when he started off as proteas trainer in 2009," Herschelle Gibbs posted on X commenting on a post Temba Bavuma's injury. 

Ironic that the coach allows some players who are clearly unfit and overweight to play when he started off as proteas trainer in 2009

— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) December 26, 2023

Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul finally completed his Test cricket comeback with an aggressive century against South Africa in tough conditions at Centurion on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Battling bad Test form for a while, KL made a comeback playing on a tough Centurion surface, coming to the crease at 92/4, the middle-order batter batted for most of his knock with lower middle-order/lower-order batters to register a memorable comeback ton.

He scored 101 in 137 balls, with 14 fours and four sixes, striking at a strike rate of over 75.

Now, KL has become the first visiting batter to score multiple hundreds at Centurion, with his knock of 123 in 2021 being his first century at the venue.

KL has joined Pakistan's Azhar Mahmood, Sri Lanka's Thilan Samaraweera and India's Virat Kohli to score at least two centuries by an Asian batter in SA. Sachin Tendulkar is at the top with five hundred.

In South Africa, KL has played six Tests, scoring 357 runs at an average of 32.45, with two tons and a fifty in 11 innings.

The batter has been great for India in testing SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) conditions, having smashed five of his eight Test centuries in these conditions. One century has come in Australia, and two have come in England.

KL Rahul's special relationship with the Boxing Day Test continues. In his first-ever Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), KL made his Test debut, though he failed to make an impact.

In his next Boxing Day Test at Centurion in 2021, KL smashed 123 and 23 to guide India to a 113-run win over South Africa.

Now in his third Boxing Day Test, he has smashed a century on his Test comeback in testing conditions.

With ANI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

Temba Bavuma South Africa Cricket Team India Cricket Team South Africa vs India Cricket