Kolkata: In a match building up to be a titanic clash between the South African batters and Indian bowlers, Protean skipper Temba Bavuma will be putting his best bet out – keeping it simple and putting up an A game, in a bid to win against all the odds and the hype in India's home.
"You respect the strength and the threats that they (Indian bowlers) bring. It's a world-class bowling attack in their condition. We're going to have to have our A game up come tomorrow. We will stick to our processes, prepare as well as we can. We will make sure that we're not surprised by anything and get ourselves into a space where we can play our best cricket,” Bavuma said at his pre-match presser at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.
The match has garnered immense interest which has managed to get bigger than any India-Pakistan clash in cricket. “It’s an important one coming up against India who are an in-form side. We are an in-form too and we look forward to the opportunity to test our skills against this Indian team,” Bavuma said.
Bavuma who his yet to speak with bat in a big way in this tournament has been looking to make a meaningful contribution to his team. What bigger and appropriate occasion that would be if it happens against India.
"The other batters are smashing it at the moment. I take comfort in the fact that I've been involved in some partnerships with Quinton (de Kock) up front. Obviously, you want to extend it. I guess from my side, it's just one of those patches again where you're kind of scratching, but I think you've got to keep that belief that the opportunity will be there for me to make a big play within the team,” Bavuma said.
South Africa, a team desperate to win their first World Cup and finally shed the jinx that they have been fighting at crucial moments in summit tournaments, are in a happy space till now, their strategy being hit out in the first 10 overs more with the bat than the ball, have taken it game by game, "staying as present as we can".
As the noise around the team has grown, skipper Bavuma has tried to "control our spaces within the team" and instead of being overawed by all the attention and the expectation within and without, "draw energy from the positive sentiment floating in and around the team."
"It is hard for us to keep going as underdogs, but in terms of the team, everything still stays the same. We don't see ourselves any different. We'll still take it day by day, game by game," Bavuma said about the upcoming big Sunday, their biggest, against the unbeaten Indian side.
The belief, the confidence and the journey of South Africa in this tournament has fuelled the unit's aim of getting to the end. "We're getting closer and closer to that. The performances we've put up have strengthened us from within. We've taken note of what’s happening outside the team, the performances and success of the Rugby team back home, and the positive energy that we've gotten from those as well. Having said that, we still want to stay a lot more drawn to each other as a team, control what we can control within the team, regulate our emotions as much as we can and make sure we're in the best space possible to play our best cricket," he said.
Such has been the dream run of the Proteans that the tag of eternal chokers has long been buried under a pile of runs and a mountain of performances. "Choke? I don't know how to answer that. If we come unstuck tomorrow, I don't think it'll be a matter of choking. I doubt you would say that about India as well if they come unstuck if they would choke,” he said with a certain amount of chagrin.
Indeed, it’s two in-form teams that will be coming up against each other tomorrow and it's just a matter of who breaks first and who's able to exploit that moment or weakness that will be the deciding factor.
