Proteas aspire to have Springboks' image and impact, says Temba Bavuma

Proteas Test and ODI captain Temba Bavuma says the team aspires to have the same impact as the Springboks, both in South Africa and on the global stage.

Following the Proteas' historic victory at Lord’s in the World Test Championship final, cricket has seen a resurgence in popularity, with fans across the country rallying behind the sport once again.

Despite this renewed support, Bavuma and his teammates understand that there’s still a long journey ahead to reach their ultimate goal: achieving the same level of national and international esteem as the Springboks.

“I think within rugby, all of us look at the rugby guys — whenever they go to a world event, there’s proper belief that the guys can go all the way. We’ve seen it countless times, so that expectation is high,” Bavuma said.

“From a South African cricketing point of view, yes, we might go there with hope, but there’s probably a part of the fan base that isn’t fully convinced. I think with what we’ve achieved, particularly winning the WTC Final, that belief is growing. Now, expectations are going to be higher and higher.”

Bavuma added that the team is aware of the rising pressure, with fans now expecting consistent performances across formats — including at next year’s T20 World Cup and the upcoming 50-over World Cup.

“There will be a shift — a shift in trust and faith — but that comes with a certain level of pressure that we, as players, need to live up to.”

"I think also, as South Africans, we are probably a bit more on the conservative side. I think a lot of the players, you find that they get celebrated a lot more outside of South African shows than they do here back home, and I think that's just our culture, South Africans.

"I mean if you think of success, if you think of success in sport, you think of rugby, you look at the way the rugby, they've been able to go about their business, really embracing what it means being South African, being unequivocal about their positions on any narratives and then obviously the excellence that they show on the field, I think that's the biggest thing.

"Yes, we understand we want to unite the people, but you can't do that if you don't have the success behind you, so I think that's why rugby is seen in that light. Rather than cricket, we are slowly but surely getting closer to that, that's part of our, I guess, vision as a team, and we'd like to be in three, four years to see where we land in terms of that."

A week ago, Bavuma and the Proteas Test team took the Test mace to Langa, where the 35-year-old was born and bred.

Having seen the support that they received in their trophy parade in Langa, Bavuma got to understand just how big the impact of their victory has had in the country.

"I think it gets bigger and bigger every time I have an opportunity to kind of meet people on the ground. Last week I saw some of the players, we got to go to Langa, experience the community but also the emotion about the role, and I think that experience for a lot of us was heartwarming, it was emotional but really gave us a proper essence of what we've done as a team," said Bavuma.

"I think as time goes by, we still have another year and a half to celebrate being the champions. I think that will add a lot more, but again, see everyone here, everyone's happy when the Mace came out. I think we've really done something special as this group."