new delhi: Skipper Temba Bavuma, making a return from injury, underwent a fitness drill under the supervision of the team’s trainer, physio and head coach Shukri Conrad as South Africa trained at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday morning ahead of the opening Test against India starting from Friday.
The drill involved short sprints between three marker cones and lasted about 20 minutes. While his teammates were engaged in an intense nets session, Bavuma completed his running routine, did some shadow practice, and later joined the nets.
Bavuma, who missed the start of South Africa’s World Test Championship title defence against Pakistan with a calf strain sustained in England in September, returned to action last week in the second unofficial Test against India A in Bengaluru.
He made a composed 59 off 101 balls in the second innings after a first-ball duck, helping South Africa A to a five-wicket win. He is expected to replace Dewald Brevis, who managed only 46 runs in two Tests in Pakistan.
Tony de Zorzi, South Africa’s top run-getter in that series with a century and fifty and is a good player of spin, will likely be shuffled from the No 4 position he had occupied in Bavuma’s absence.
Conrad hailed Bavuma as the team’s key player and said their drawn series in Pakistan without him was a massive boost. “Temba’s massive for us, he’s our best player. It’s as simple as that, which makes winning a Test match in Pakistan so much better for us, that we were able to do it without our best player,” Conrad said. “So a lot of feel-good, a lot of confidence. And if you take the last two years maybe, he’s been one of the best players in the world. So his record speaks for itself.”
Senior opener Aiden Markram, who struggled to convert starts in Pakistan, also had an intense nets session, taking short-distance throwdowns before facing the main nets.
Tristan Stubbs batted long and also bowled part-time off-spin, giving the think-tank a possible additional spin option to complement their three specialists -- Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy.