"I'd like to play there" - Temba Bavuma aspires to compete in the IPL one day
South Africa's limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma wishes to be a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) band-wagon someday. The 32-year-old was not among the 33 Proteas players who put their names in the IPL 2022 auction in February.
A slew of South African players have been pivotal to their respective IPL franchises over the years. Even in the recently culminated edition, the likes of Kagiso Rabada and David Miller were among the top performers in the tournament.
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Expressing his desire to represent a franchise and even potentially lead in the tournament, Bavuma said on The Cricket Monthly:
"I'd like to play there. The stronger my performances, the more realistic the opportunity becomes. I've also developed this fantasy of captaining a team. I don't know where that comes from. I'd like to get that experience as well. But I kinda need to get into a team before that happens!"
The Proteas skipper will have a chance to showcase his exploits in the shortest format in their upcoming tour of India. South Africa will play a five-match T20I series on the subcontinent to ramp up their preparations for the 2022 T20 World Cup later this year.
"It's nice to see some of our guys doing well in the IPL" - Temba Bavuma
The involvement of South African players in IPL 2022 sparked a debate as the majority of them were in line to play in the home series against Bangladesh. The second-string Proteas squad managed to win the Test series by a 2-0 margin, but lost the ODI series.
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Despite their absence from the national team, Bavuma expressed delight at the players performing at the top level. The 32-year-old added:
"It's nice to see some of our guys doing well. KG [Rabada] en route to being the quickest to 100 wickets. Quicker than [Lasith] Malinga. That's something to be proud of. And Marco Jansen - how he has gone and performed. Or Aiden [Markram]."
He added:
"Even the younger guys who have showed their ability. There is a lot of talk about Dewald Brevis. He is an exciting prospect for our cricket. And Tristan Stubbs, getting a go. It's been nice to see those guys."
Kagiso Rabada ended the tournament as the highest-wicket taker among pacers despite yet another solemn campaign for the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Dewald Brevis was one of the youngsters to watch out for after making an impression in a handful of matches for the Mumbai Indians.
Aiden Markram and David Miller were among the best middle-order batters over the course of the competition as well.