Temba Bavuma has opened up about battling "mental demons" as he has recovered from a second elbow injury, and a fourth major niggle, in the last two years - all of which kept him out of crucial international games.
"It's definitely has played in my mind. When you're injured and you start in a rehab process, it's always tough," he said in Pretoria, where South Africa are involved in a preparation camp ahead of their home Test summer. "It's just [about] trying to get over all those mental demons and get yourself into a space where you accept what it is that is happening and you try to deal with it. It has been a tricky couple of weeks."
Bavuma has not played competitive cricket in seven weeks since he fell awkwardly while completing a run in an ODI against Ireland in Abu Dhabi. He hurt the same elbow that he fractured in 2022 - his left one - and was out of action for three months. This time, it has only taken a little over half the time but in-between Bavuma has suffered injuries on both his right and left hamstrings. The former saw him play last year's ODI World Cup semi-final without being fully fit, and the latter prevented him from batting in the Boxing Day Test against India and from playing in the New Year's match that followed.
Add to that that he missed South Africa's Tests in New Zealand in February because of SA20 commitments and the matches in Bangladesh with the most recent elbow concern, and Bavuma has only played in three of the team's eight World Test Championship (WTC) matches in this cycle. He has watched his team put themselves in contention for the WTC final mostly without him and admitted that hasn't always been easy.
"As much as the guys played as well as they did against Bangladesh, it was quite frustrating from my side not being able to take part in that," he said. "But obviously, I had a lot of joy in how the guys performed."
Bavuma was part of the traveling party in Bangladesh, where South Africa enjoyed their first Test and series victory in the subcontinent in a decade, and was close to playing the second match but felt some discomfort on impact while batting. He has since passed a fitness test - including a 90-minute batting session and has been given the all-clear to lead the side in the hope he will remain fully fit through the summer.
"I don't know what the next couple of weeks or months look like. I'm just happy that I'm able to speak to you guys at this point in time," he said. "I'll try to prepare as much as I can from a physical and mental point of view. And hopefully the gods can smile on me a little bit longer."
So far, Bavuma said his "elbow feels good", the intensity of his training "has definitely ramped up" and he is mentally ready to go. "I feel quite fresh and excited as well to have the opportunity to be batting, to be putting on my pads, to be running on the field. From a skill point of view, it's always just got to build it, just build that confidence - feel yourself hitting the ball out the middle and feel your movements are the way that you want them to be."
While Bavuma continues to regain his own sense of self-belief, South Africa's is soaring, not only because they have not lost a Test series under Shukri Conrad but because their WTC fate is in their own hands. If they win all four of their remaining Tests (two each against Sri Lanka and Pakistan), they will be guaranteed a place in the final. Considering that South Africa have played fewer matches than anyone else and effectively forfeited a series in New Zealand, where they were without most of their first-choice players who were committed to the SA20, that they remain in contention itself is impressive, and they know it.
"There's lots of excitement," Bavuma said. "Obviously, as a group, starting the WTC cycle, that's one of the things that we spoke about in terms of what we'd like to achieve. Things became a bit tricky for us after the New Zealand trip but there was always a goal at the back of our minds. We understand that the expectation and the pressure will probably ramp up."
There is also renewed hope in South African cricket. After reaching three T20 World Cup finals in 18 months (twice by the women and once by the men) and the men's ODI World Cup semi-final against expectations, there is a feeling something big (read: trophy) must be on the horizon. Whether that comes now or in the future, Bavuma can feel the positive shift and hopes his team will lean into it.
"From a belief point of view, that's definitely grown within the team," he said. "We're playing at home during festive times and playing in front of our home fans. Hopefully the stadiums will have a little bit more people than we are accustomed to. We've been putting in some good performances so from a confidence, belief point of view, it's been good to see. As a team, we'll ride that for as long as it lives within us."