Proteas will give Temba Bavuma time to prove his fitness ahead of World Cup semi-final
14th November 2023
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Proteas coach Rob Walter insists Temba Bavuma is not "undroppable" but will give his captain every chance to prove his fitness ahead of Thursday's Cricket World Cup semi-final clash against Australia.
Bavuma suffered a hamstring injury in the final group match against Afghanistan last Friday and is in a race against time to be fit for the last-four clash in Kolkata.
The skipper did some training on Monday, which Walter described as "positive", and will be further assessed by the medical staff as the week progresses.
"Monday was positive, he was doing a fair bit of training in different matters," Walter said. "Today (Tuesday) we will see again at training and taking it daily. We have seen a progression positively each day and that is awesome.
"We will hopefully make a call earlier than the morning of the game. In an ideal world I want to give him as much time to play for his country.
"We're taking it day by day and will make a decision as soon as we can."
If Bavuma is deemed unfit for the Australia clash, Reeza Hendricks will step in to deputise at the top of the order alongside Quinton de Kock.
Hendricks has played two matches at the World Cup, hitting 85 against England and then scoring 12 against Bangladesh.
Bavuma is the only Proteas batter in the top six that has not scored a fifty at the global tournament so far as they won seven of their nine matches in the league phase.
Walter though said his skipper will not be dropped because of form as he was one the Proteas' leading performers heading into the event in India.
"Temba hasn't come up in the conversation of being dropped because of form, because he has been one our best batsmen this year," Walter added.
"He hasn't scored the runs he would have wanted to in the World Cup, but every training he looks like he is close and every innings he looks like he is close. A good score is just around the corner from him.
"As far as being undroppable, nobody is bigger than the team. The same goes for everyone."
