Temba Bavuma thanks Langa community for supporting him 'through thick and thin'

Bavuma and his teammates - that included vice-captain Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Tony de Zorzi, Dane Paterson and Wiaan Mulder - first visited their captain's childhood home.

They then made their way to the Langa Sports Complex which was already a hub of activity with school children, and the Proteas joined them in a game of mini cricket.

Bavuma and his teammates then went on an open-top bus parade through the township in Cape Town and hundreds of fans came out to cheer on their home town hero, who led his country to the World Test Championship title against Australia at Lord's last month, hoping it will serve as motivation, especially to the youth.

"You think of all where it started," Bavuma said. "Everything that happened to get to the point of being at Lord's, having that opportunity.

"And just paying homage to the people that were part of that story. The family here, my maternal side, the community who supported me through thick and thin.

"But also to the kids, they can have something to aspire to, to see someone that comes from their roots, go through whatever you've gone through to get to the heights of the world.

"For me Langa is humbling, humbling in a lot of ways. A lot of my friends that I grew up here, you know, we all played cricket when we were young.

"Guys were better than me but because of the resources and  opportunities that I got, I was able to get to where I am.

"When I see them, you kind of think at the back of your mind, is this how things would have been for me? So it's humbling in a lot of ways. But to have this opportunity for them to share in this, it had to happen."

Markram, who scored a glorious century in the second innings at Lord's in the final - and shared in a match-winning partnership with Bavuma - paid tribute to his skipper and his childhood community.

"As a team we speak a lot about really getting to know each other on a deeper level and this a big piece in a puzzle that is building for someone like Temba and it's incredible for us to experience it," Markram said.

"Always really humbling to experience places like this and to see where it all started for Temba...you really then truly get to know and understand why things have worked out the way they have.

"I have nothing but respect towards him and his community and where he has come from. They've welcomed us with open arms and it's been truly a great experience.

"He instills a lot of hope around the country, hugely so here where he is from and it is turning out to be a really cool story."

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