FILE - Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma is in a race against time to be fit for the home series against Sri Lanka. FILE - Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma is in a race against time to be fit for the home series against Sri Lanka. Picture: Randy Brooks / AFP
Proteas coach Shukri Conrad has confirmed that Test captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the second Test against Bangladesh next week.
Bavuma also missed the Proteas seven-wicket win in the first Test in Dhaka after injuring his elbow in the recent One-Day International series against Ireland in the United Arab Emirates.
“While the right-hander has made significant progress in his rehabilitation, he will not be match-ready when the second Test gets underway on October 29 in Chattogram,” Cricket South Africa said in a statement.
Proteas T20 captain Aiden Markram will continue to lead the team in the second Test in Bavuma’s absence.
Conrad said on Friday morning that Bavuma will now set his sights on a return to the team for the home Test series against Sri Lanka, which starts on November 27 at Kingsmead in Durban.
“Yesterday (Thursday) was always the day when we were going to make the decision based on his medical condition. There was a plan, a program that he was following,” Conrad told the media from Bangladesh.
“No, we didn’t wait for the result [to make a call on his fitness]. We just thought medically he wasn’t going to be ready for the second Test. We will now tone down the program, so he can be ready for the Sri Lanka series.”
The Proteas went into the first Test with six front-line batters, wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder at No 8. But Conrad may be tempted to go for an extra bowler in the third Test, as the conditions are much more favourable for the batters in Chattogram.
This could see Matthew Breetzke make way for either paceman Lungi Ngidi or spin-bowling all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy.
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