Africa-Press – South-Africa. One semifinal, two captains. One knows a legacy in which success is a given. The other is trying to give the sport in his country a lift, while cementing a personal legacy that will elevate him into a position no other South African captain has occupied.
Temba Bavuma and Pat Cummins view the topic of cricketing legacy from those different perspectives ahead of Thursday’s 2023 Cricket World Cup semifinal in Kolkata.Cummins can call up Allan Border, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Michael Clarke to ask, “What’s it like to play an ODI World Cup final?”. To lead a team in one. To win one — or in Ponting’s case, two.
“Yeah, pretty awesome,” Cummins smiled as he briefly reflected on Australia’s World Cup history. “You look back at some of the great Aussie sides and see that they’ve won the World Cup — it’s what drives you to win World Cups.”
The Proteas are equally as driven, it’s just that Bavuma has no-one to look to. Heck, no South African captain has succeeded at what he is attempting to do on Thursday — win a semifinal.
There’s the team’s ambition, Bavuma’s personal desire and then of course the social element. A black African man captaining his country at a World Cup successfully — only one dude knows what that is like and the ball he plays with is bigger and less round.
Bavuma said leading the Proteas onto Eden Gardens on Thursday means a lot, but he doesn’t want the occasion to get bigger than it needs to be. “I’ve tried not to really allow myself to get into that space. You obviously want to treat it as just another game,” he said.
“It’s something I’ll savour in that moment. With that opportunity, I know it will mean a lot for the family and people back home. And obviously it would be nice to be having another press conference with you guys on November 18 [Saturday, the day before Sunday’s final].”
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