Temba Bavuma was born on May 17, 1990, in Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa. A batsman, Bavuma is the first black African batsman to be selected in South Africa’s Test team. Short on height, Bavuma has built his game on finesse and patience. He was mentored by Geoffrey Toyana from a young age. He made his first-class debut at 18 for Gauteng and found himself playing in the franchise team the Lions three seasons later.

His technique on the back foot helped him record an average of over 45 in his second summer. Due to leadership qualities, he was named the Lions’ vice-captain in 2013-14.

After finishing as the 5th-highest scorer in the 2012-13 season, he found himself playing for South Africa A. He received a Test call-up at the end of 2014.

Even though he did not perform well against the West Indies in the Test series, he impressed captain Hashim Amla with a gritty 50. He was later given a chance in the middle of 2015 in Bangladesh.

South Africa’s home series against England in 2015-2016 proved to be the one for Bavuma. During this series, he solidified his place in the playing XI with a magnificent hundred at Cape Town.

However, his career graph hasn’t really kicked off. Often taking time to fire, he often failed to convert his knocks into big ones.

The following year he hit the 50s in Australia. He followed that up with poor scores against a visiting Sri Lanka. He then hit half-centuries against New Zealand.

In 2017 England, the entire South African batting unit struggled. Bavuma, too. However, he did manage a decent average of 31 during the four Tests.

He is currently leading the South African cricket team in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup. He made the headline on October 26 for handling the issue of Quinton de Kock’s refusal of taking a knee in the support of the Black Lives Matter movement.