South Africa National Team captain Temba Bavuma mentioned the Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar after his career-best 179-run innings against Australia. Bavuma said that he tried to emulate the batting technique of Sachin Tendulkar.

Australian pace attack was on song under the overcast conditions in Gqeberha. With the inclusion of Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc, Aussies kept taking wickets in the ongoing Test match of the series. While most of the top and middle-order batters failed to produce anything significant for the home team, South Africa, their skipper played a well-timed knock.

Temba Bavuma scored 179 runs against Australia

Bavuma's 179 runs off 334 balls came at a big time for the Proteas. Under the seaming conditions, it was never easy to face 334 balls against the bowlers like Starc, Boland, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Beau Webster.

South Africa was down by 6 wickets when they reached 110 runs on the scoreboard. From there, with only 4 wickets in hand, they finished their first innings with 425 runs. Bavuma declared their innings after losing 9 wickets. Alongside Temba Bavuma, two tail-enders, Simon Harmer and Marco Jansen, joined their hands in taking their team to the respectable total. Jansen scored 85 runs from 100 balls, and Harmer got 82 runs from 157 balls.

I try to emulate my technique to Sachin Tendulkar: Temba Bavuma

After the innings, Temba Bavuma revealed how he tried to perform with the bat under such challenging situations and with limited wickets in hand. Bavuma expressed that he tried to bat, keeping his limitations in mind. He is not among the tall batters, so he prevented himself from using any big strides.

“I try to emulate my technique to Sachin Tendulkar. I'm obviously not a big guy; I'm not really going to get any big strides in. I try to be efficient in terms of my movement," the Protea skipper said after the innings break.

There are a few stats which show Bavuma has improved his batting after getting appointed as the national team captain. According to the stats, he scored 2,797 runs with a 34.53 batting average in 54 matches as a regular player of the team. As a captain in the Test format, his batting average is now 54.36, as he has scored 1,196 runs in 14 matches, with the highest score of 179 against Australia.

Temba Bavuma's Test Batting Stats
As Captain

Matches: 14
Runs: 1,196
Average: 54.36
Highest Score: 179

Not as Captain

Matches: 54
Runs: 2,797
Average: 34.53
Highest Score: 102*

South Africa in strong position against Australia

As of now, South Africa is leading the race against Australia at St George's Oval. Against the home side's 425, the Aussies are already short by one batter as their opener, Nic Maddinson, returned for a duck.

After four overs, Australia has scored only 3 runs, and Travis Head and Scott Boland are at the crease. Boland came on as a nightwatchman before the stumps of Day 3.