South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the Cape Town Test against India due to a left hamstring strain that didn't let him bat during the hosts' first innings in Centurion.
Dean Elgar will lead the Proteas in his farewell Test and would like to keep South Africa's historic Test record at home against India intact. Zubayr Hamza has been recalled to join the squad for the New Year's Test in Cape Town as Bavuma's injury replacement.
The unforeseen injury to Bavuma has also cast doubts over his participation in the second edition of the SA20 starting January 10, 2024.
"The 33-year-old sustained the injury while fielding on day one of the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday. Subsequent scans revealed a hamstring strain which kept him out of South Africa's first innings.
"He will undergo further medical assessments before the start of the Betway SA20 to determine his avaliability for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape," a Cricket South Africa press release read.
South Africa's red-ball head coach Shukri Conrad mentioned that Bavuma was willing to "bat at every turn" but after they racked up a sizeable first innings lead he (Conrad) felt that it wasn't necessary to risk him as it could have aggravated the risk even further.
"He was ready to bat at every turn, and we kept monitoring it. When we reached where we reached, not because we felt that was enough, we felt that if we sent him out then there was a potential risk that he could aggravate the risk even further. We were constantly giving ourselves maximum time so we could give out the right information. If we lost wickets early, he would have walked on. With 150 runs ahead, I felt it wasn't necessary to risk Temba," Conrad was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
