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South African cricket great Allan Donald praised Temba Bavuma for his leadership qualities. Bavuma recently led the South Africa National Cricket Team to the top of the ICC men's Test cricket rankings defeating Australia National Cricket Team in the 3-match Test series by 2-1.
Cricket fans often overlooked Temba Bavuma because of his height, overlooking his leadership skills, which helped the team win the Test Mace in the previous edition of the World Test Championship (WTC). Maintaining the same tempo, the Proteas are looking solid enough to qualify for another WTC final in back-to-back cycles.
In Test cricket, Australia is still considered one of the major threats for the Test-playing nations across the globe. The Aussies, in fact, started the Test series campaign against South Africa with a heavy win, setting a major challenge for the hosts. The hosts, however, claimed wins in two consecutive matches and eventually won the series.
Temba Bavuma has been playing a major role behind the emergence of the South African National Cricket Team in the longest format of the game. Bavuma may not be among those flamboyant personalities on the cricket ground, but his individual performance and the team's performance are evidence of the 36-year-old's influence over the team.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Allan Donald mentioned that when Bavuma handed the trophy to Simon Harmer, who took 10 wickets against Australia in the final match of the bilateral series, it reflected the captain's mindset. From that single moment, Donald realized that Bavuma likes to work silently, instead of making unnecessary noise.
"I don’t know if anybody noticed, but straight after the game, during the trophy presentation, he immediately gave the trophy to Simon Harmer. And that’s Temba. Temba doesn’t want to be seen in the front row, doesn't want to be seen as the guy who's going to lift the trophy. He's not going to make any noise. He's not going to be shouting his mouth off. He is a very quiet man," Allan Donald said in the interview.
The legendary cricketer called Temba Bavuma, 5ft 4 inches tall, a ' quiet little warrior' for the South Africa National Cricket Team. Donald was impressed with the 179-run knock played by Bavuma in Port Elizabeth to rescue his team from the early blows. That century became one of the major turning points in the match and the series as well.
"You can just tell that he’s the national team’s Test captain. He speaks with authority, but he’s not a guy who wants to be a dominant figure. He’s gone quietly about his business and been chipping away. The hundred he scored the other day was fantastic. It was one of the best knocks I’ve seen being played at Port Elizabeth in a long time. Under immense pressure, he delivered and led from the front. He’s known as a quiet little warrior in South Africa," Allan Donald opined.
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