Victorious Proteas still building their legacy, says captain Temba Bavuma

Captain Temba Bavuma says the Proteas must “just live in that moment for a little bit longer” after receiving a warm welcome upon their arrival in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The Proteas touched down at the OR Tambo International Airport, returning home from London after being crowned the World Test Championship winners following their five-wicket victory over the No 1-ranked Australia at Lord’s last week.

Although Bavuma has his eyes set on the upcoming two-match Test tour to Zimbabwe, which starts on June 28, he emphasised the importance of basking in their WTC triumph in the coming days.

Bavuma wants his team to enjoy themselves before heading to Zimbabwe next week, and most importantly, reflect on what they have done to get to where they are as a team at the moment.

“I think for now, it’s important for us to at least acknowledge and embrace what we’ve done – to take it all in, to understand as players the role that we played to get us to this point, and really just live in that moment for a little bit longer,” Bavuma told the media on Wednesday.

“I think the beauty about international cricket is that there’s always something else that’s awaiting.

“So, once we get over ourselves and all our emotions, then we will be, ‘What’s the next thing?’

“Guys will be focusing on the Zimbabwe tour, and that obviously leads to the start of the community cycle. 

“So, we’ve been setting our eyes on what it is that we want to achieve over there.

“But there’s always something that we always are working towards.

“Like I said, it’s a legacy that we try to put together as a team. The legacy is not done now after 18, 24 months. But for now, it’s for us to enjoy what we’ve done.”

Bavuma suffered a hamstring strain during the fourth innings of the WTC final, and still batted through it and got the team into a good position to win the match with a gritty 66 in a match-winning partnership with centurion Aiden Markram.

However, that injury will have to be re-examined to determine if the 35-year-old will be fit for the Zimbabwe tour.

Should Bavuma not be fit to fly north, he will be another key player that will miss the trip, as Kagiso Rabada, Markram, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder and Ryan Rickelton have been rested.

Bavuma opened up about his battles with injuries as the hamstring strain at Lord’s last week was not his first taste of something of that nature.

“I’ve had my fair share of injuries. I’m not 25 anymore... I’m close to the end,” said Bavuma.

“So, I think it’s just for me to accept and probably go to the gym a lot more than I did as a youngster, but I think I just need to continue.

“It seems like that’s part of my story and journey at the moment.

“I don’t think this one is going to keep me out for too long. I think it’s just part and parcel of being a sportsman, right?

“You go through the criticism, you go through these issues with your injuries and your body.

“And the thing is, you’ve got to wake up the next day and find a way to keep going forward, so I think it’s no different to how it all ends.

“Like I said earlier, I’m going to enjoy this moment.

“But hopefully come Monday, we start writing our way up on how we are going to go about things going forward.”