London 17th August : South Africa white-ball captain Temba Bavuma has stated that, even though England’s aggressive method of playing in Tests is risky their batters have played the “type of play” very well to win back-to-back games against New Zealand and India.As South Africa look set to play England in the three-test series which will kick off at Lord’s later on Wednesday.
Bavuma who has more than 51 caps in Test cricket, added that England’s new coach Brendon McCullum’s energizing and attacking strategy has brought attention to Test cricket.
“I believe that England’s methods under the new coach for Test cricket Brendon McCullum are enthralling.They’ve really raised the profile of Test cricket, and it has made it attractive.Their batsman’s strategy for batting is risky and the credit must be given to their batsmen having the ability to play this kind of playing,” said Bavuma in his column for supersport.com on Wednesday.
“The expectation and the excitement revolves about whether they can do this against the South African bowling attack.England has batters that are in the best shape of their lives, and good at hitting the ball, which means it should be a thrilling match between ball and bat in this time,” he added.
South Africa skipper Dean Elgar recently raised the stakes of the series, stating that England would have been left with “egg on their face” had New Zealand had taken their opportunities in the three-Test series last year.”There was often a sense of equality between England and New Zealand (during the Test series) and had New Zealand taken their opportunities and their chances to catch and catches, the outcome would be very different.England would have walked away with egg on their face,” Elgar had said recently.
Bavuma stated that the Proteas typically enter any game as underdogs, but , having a good understanding of his team, he was sure they will be eager to go home with the series victory.
South Africa are currently narrowly ahead of on the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) table and are in the top position to be able to qualify in the final in 2023 should they perform good in the match against England.
“In the White-Ball format we weren’t regarded as the most popular team, but we were able to convert some skeptics into supporters of our team.
We haven’t been tagged with the favourites label for a long time and this allows us to play in a quiet manner and let the result speak for itself.In terms of the Test format I don’t really think it’s any different.
I don’t believe we’re considered to be contenders, but, based on my team will be eager to change the perception,” added Bavuma.
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