Proteas ODI captain Temba Bavuma responded to backlash he received on social media, calling for him step down as captain, following the Proteas’ semi-final loss.
Bavuma has endured a lot of backlash on social media platforms where supporters were blaming him for losing the game as well as calling for him to step down as captain – claiming that he is not good enough.
He and Proteas coach Rob Walters walked into an empty airport on Saturday, with very little supporters to welcome them back home.
In an interview with Mahlase Mphahlele at the airport, Bavuma asked what metric the fans were using to judge if he is in fact a good captain or not.
Proteas ODI captain Temba Bavuma defends captaincy and playing while not 100% fit and admits to batting challenges. pic.twitter.com/Xbb6YKvh7q
— Mahlatse Mphahlele (@BraMahlatse) November 19, 2023
“I’m there as the captain and I’m also there as a batsman. I always try and separate the two. I don’t know what the metric is used to judge if someone is captaining well. We won most of the games in the group stages than any South African team.
We beat teams that haven’t been beaten at World cups, so what metric are we going to use to judge whether I am doing my job as a captain.
“As a batter, I wasn’t pulling my weight, but we take a lot of confidence in the fact that I was involved in a lot of partnerships at the top, that’s one of my roles within the team. We also had a lot of the guys who were taking that responsibility from a runs point of view.
I’m not someone that’s going to walk away from adversity, I’m not someone that’s going to answer to calls from people shouting on Twitter or Facebook,” said Bavuma.
