KARACHI: South Africa’s new white-ball formats skipper Temba Bavuma on Monday pledged to build a strong group of players with an eye on three World Cups — including the 50-over showpiece in 2023 — coming up in successive years.

Bavuma, who was recently named to succeed Quinton de Kock as captain, will also lead the Proteas at the 2021 and 2022 Twenty20 World Cups as well as the 50-over World Cup in 2023, admitted the Pakistan series comprising three One-day Internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals will be challenging.

“The mood in the camp is rather optimistic ahead of the Pakistan series with several new guys coming into the South Africa squad. We now have the opportunity to grow as a team leading into the T20 World Cup later in the year. I look forward to creating a cordial atmosphere going forward,” the 30-year-old Cape Town-born batsman told a virtual media conference.

“As far as the ODI format is concerned we are seeking overall improvement. We are looking to get positive results when we’ll be at full strength with all the IPL-bound players available. After that we’ll be hoping to play with the same momentum”

South Africa will be without frontline players de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje for the final ODI against Pakistan as well as the subsequent T20 series against the Babar Azam-led Pakistan side as the five players leave for India to join their respective IPL franchises.

South Africa have selected several uncapped players — such as Sisanda Magala, Wihan Lubbe and Lizaad Williams — in an expanded squad keeping in mind the requirements of the bio-secure bubble.

“As I said the absence of those players will allow us to try out the incoming newcomers. These guys must realise that the World Cup squads will be made up of the players who have been picked for the upcoming [Pakistan] series,” Bavuma, who has been named South Africa’s third captain in a short span of time, stressed.

“Therefore, it is very important the players we have should be able to acknowledge that the opportunity is there to put their hands up and prove they are worth it [the selection in national side]. My message to them is ‘make sure you keep churning out performances so that they fit into the World Cup squad’. We believe that we’ve got replacements worthy enough of keeping their places in the long run.”

Bavuma, who has played 44 Tests but has limited experience of white-ball cricket at the international level with just six ODIs and eight T20s under his belt since 2016, also felt South Africa need to put their recent tour of Pakistan behind after losing both Tests — in Karachi and Rawalpindi — and the three-match T20 series in Lahore, which Pakistan won 2-1.

“Personally I would like to carry the good form I had during the Pakistan tour although I only played in the Tests. My job, honestly speaking, is to inspire the team as a leader who could turnaround South Africa’s fortunes. As a captain my philosophy that the work starts off the field with the communications and chats I have to deal with because I do believe that in white-ball cricket the captain is someone of influence who do things within that space,” he vowed.

“The on-field role [of captain] is to execute all the communication and all the plans to derive good results. And as the time goes by, one can showcase what type of influence and performance I can have on the team.”

The ODI series against Pakistan begins on Friday in Centurion with the second match in Johannesburg on Sunday and the third in Centurion on April 7, while the T20 fixtures are in Johannesburg (April 10 and 12) and Centurion (April 14 and 16).

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2021*