- By Namrata Vijay
- Sat, 29 Nov 2025 09:26 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs SA 2nd Test: Temba Bavuma helped South Africa win the World Test Championship title earlier this year, and in Guwahati for the first time in 25 years, helped the team win a Test series in India. In his captaincy, the Proteas had beaten India by 30 runs within three days of the series opener in Kolkata and then lost by 408 runs in Guwahati and won the series by 2-0. His success in the last few months isn't surprising for the Indian fans, but even ex-Protea skipper Ab de Villiers didn't expect Bavuma to achieve what he has.
As per him, he was left surprised by Bavuma's success as South Africa's Test skipper. He admitted that he wasn't too sure of him being the Test skipper in 2023. He also compared Bavuma to the legendary MS Dhoni in an interaction with R Ashwin on his YouTube channel and revealed that Bavuma deserves the respect that he gets in the dressing room.
“He has surprised all of us. I’ve spoken to my friends about it for years. For the first few years after he was named captain, I was hesitant to say I was confident about the call. Maybe it comes back to the old phrase: You can’t judge a book by its cover," de Villiers was quoted on YouTube.
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“He doesn’t look like this big Graeme Smith with the aura and intimidating presence. Temba is a small, soft-spoken guy; he hardly ever raises his voice. It shows you that different styles of captaincy can be successful," he said.
“I think it was similar to MS Dhoni back in the day. I hardly ever heard his voice. He was calm and didn’t speak much, but when he did, people listened. I think it might be the same with Temba. He earns respect by being calm," he added.
“It’s absolutely incredible. He has taken me aback with the success he has achieved," he concluded.
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After becoming the Test skipper of South Africa, Bavuma has helped the team win 11 of 12 matches. He became the first skipper to have won 10 Test matches, and in his captaincy, the Proteas haven't lost a Test match yet.