Temba Bavuma (born 17 May 1990) is a South African cricketer who has represented the national team since 2014. A right-handed batter, he is best known for being the first black African cricketer to score a Test century for South Africa, and for becoming the national side's first black African captain across formats.
| Full name | Temba Bavuma |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | 17 May 1990 |
| Nationality | South African |
| Batting style | Right-handed |
| National team debut | 2014 |
| Test runs | 3,810 (average 38.10) |
| ODI runs | 1,987 (average 42.40) |
| ODI captaincy | From 2021 |
| T20I captaincy | 2021 to 2023 |
| Test captaincy | From 2023 |
| Major honour | 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship (as captain) |
Bavuma is a right-handed top-order batter who joined the South African senior side in 2014. His emergence was widely seen as significant in the context of representation in South African cricket, a sport which has long worked to broaden its player base across the country's communities.
Bavuma made his international debut for South Africa in 2014. In 2016, he became the first black African cricketer to score a Test century for South Africa, a landmark moment in the country's cricketing history. Later in the same year, he marked his One Day International (ODI) debut with a century.
In Test cricket, Bavuma has scored 3,810 runs at an average of 38.10. In ODIs, he has scored 1,987 runs at an average of 42.40.
Bavuma was appointed captain of South Africa's ODI team in 2021, becoming the national side's first black African captain. He also led the Twenty20 International (T20I) team from 2021 to 2023. In 2023, he was named Test captain.
Under Bavuma's captaincy, South Africa won the 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship, a defining achievement of his leadership tenure.
Bavuma's career is a notable chapter in South African cricket for two principal reasons: his record-setting Test century in 2016 as the first black African to do so for the national team, and his subsequent appointment as the team's first black African captain across the ODI, T20I and Test formats. Lifting the World Test Championship mace further cemented his standing in the country's sporting history.
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