The Proteas arrived home on Wednesday after their disappointing group stage exit at the T20 World Cup held in Australia.

Their early arrival back home was a surprise considering their performances until the last group match. Three games in, the Proteas were sitting pretty at the top of their group, needing one win in their final two matches to progress to the semifinal.

South Africa then lost to a desperate Pakistan side by 33 runs (on the Duckworth-Lewis system) in their next match. There were no signs of panic stations at that point, but the wheels fell off completely when the Proteas stepped on the field in their final match against Netherlands, shockingly losing to the Dutch by 13 runs in a match they were never really in.

Temba Bavuma of Proteas dives to save his wicket during the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match between Pakistan and South Africa at Sydney Cricket Ground on 3 November 2022. (Photo: Isuru Sameera Peiris / Gallo Images / Getty Images)

“I’m still trying to process how we find ourselves in this situation,” said skipper Bavuma on his side’s arrival on Wednesday.

“The emotions and feelings are not as raw as they were after the game. I think in terms of the disappointment and disbelief that we are [in] at this point, that is still there. It will take me a couple of days.

“When a team performs like that, people are going to come at the leaders and I think it is important that the leaders have the answers to whatever questions are thrown at them.”

Captaincy?

In a twist of irony, Bavuma’s batting form — which was woeful in the first three World Cup clashes — took an upward turn in their two defeats (36 off 19 balls and 20 off 20 balls).

However, for the first time his captaincy was questioned when he elected to bowl first in the must-win clash against Netherlands.

When questioned by the media on how he sees his role in the white-ball team in the future, Bavuma maintained that he was undecided. 

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma attempts a catch during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 3 November 2022. (Photo: Cameron Spencer / Getty Images)

“To be honest, I haven’t thought that far about the upcoming World Cup [the 50-over edition in India next year],” Bavuma said.

“I don’t want to give an answer that could change in a month or three months’ time. I think now there’s a lot on my mind with what’s happened at the World Cup and just trying to process all of that.

“When things start to get clearer, once we’ve had our discussions, I might have a better perspective.

“At the end of the day, I don’t choose myself as captain, that’s for the man sitting next to me.” (Cricket South Africa director of Cricket, Enoch Nkwe.)

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“Enoch might see things differently, and he’ll make a decision based on the information he’s gathered. We’ll see what the conversations are.” 

Bavuma acknowledged that the questions aimed at the leadership of the team are fair given the results and the expectations of the team. 

“I’m the captain, so it’s expected that they’ll ask questions of me. I’ll take a good look at my role and what I contributed to my team’s performance. It’s been a challenging time for me.

“I felt we did a good job as a team in terms of supporting each other and giving each other the necessary confidence amidst everything that was happening.

“Could I say that I’m happy with my personal performances? No. I’m not happy. ‘Am I happy with the way I led the team?’ Yes, I am. 

“But like I said, it’s important that the leaders have the answers to the questions that are thrown at them.

However, he remained bemused at his side’s early exit.

“It’s going to take a couple of days still. We played good cricket as a unit before the Netherlands, but then to exit like that begs a lot of questioning.”

Post-mortem

There were questions raised throughout the T20 World Cup about the make-up of the playing 11 with in-form batter Reeza Hendricks missing the opportunity to get a match at the global spectacle. 

“It’s a call of the coach, the panel. I trust them that they’ll make the right decision on the day in terms of what’s going to be the best 11 on the day to represent our country. I don’t get involved with selection,” said Nkwe. 

“We have people that are in charge of selection and I leave it to them. The whole interference from my side would be wrong.” 

Nkwe, meanwhile maintains that he has put the T20 World Cup behind him and will focus all of his and the Proteas’ attention on the upcoming Test series in Australia and 50-over World Cup in India next year.

“There will be a lot of detail shared as we try to understand how we take the next step forward collectively; from selection to player management, medical and game strategy, we are going to dig deep,” said Nkwe.

“I need to ensure all the players, all the staff are still in a good place mentally to take the next step forward.

“We need to make sure we need to have a very clear strategy moving forward. We don’t have a lot of time to the next World Cup. It’s 12, 11 months away.” DM