Temba Bavuma Responds With Humor To Viral ‘Sleeping’ Picture From Pre-World Cup Meeting

A photo of South Africa’s cricket team captain, Temba Bavuma, taken during a pre-World Cup captains’ meeting, became a viral sensation on social media. The image, widely circulated online, depicted Bavuma seated in a chair alongside fellow players during the meeting. In the photo, Bavuma appeared to be dozing off, leading many to believe he had fallen asleep. However, Bavuma later clarified the situation.

The England cricket fan group known as the Barmy Army shared the photo on social media with a playful caption, suggesting that Bavuma had nodded off during the World Cup captain’s conference. Bavuma, however, responded to the post with a light-hearted comment, stating, “I blame the camera angle, I wasn’t sleeping.”

Temba Bavuma has just fallen asleep in the World Cup captain’s conference pic.twitter.com/GqQXZ3MenG

— England’s Barmy Army 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🎺 (@TheBarmyArmy) October 4, 2023

Despite the humorous incident, South Africa’s cricket team is gearing up for the upcoming World Cup without key pacers Anrich Nortje and Sisanda Magala, both sidelined due to injuries. Nevertheless, under Bavuma’s leadership, the team has shown significant improvement in their form leading up to the tournament.

In a recent One Day International (ODI) series, the Proteas managed a remarkable comeback, defeating Australia 3-2 after trailing 2-0 initially. The team won the last three matches of the series convincingly, each time by a margin of over 100 runs.

South Africa is set to kick off their World Cup campaign with their opening match against Sri Lanka at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on October 7. However, they faced a setback in their last World Cup warm-up game against New Zealand, where they lost by seven runs, according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.

New Zealand posted a competitive total of 321 for 6 in 50 overs, with Devon Conway and Tom Latham both contributing half-centuries. In response, South Africa needed to chase 219 runs in 37 overs due to inclement weather conditions. They fought valiantly but fell short, scoring 211 for 4 within the stipulated overs. Quinton de Kock, who is set to retire after the World Cup, displayed good form, scoring 84 runs off 89 balls. Rassie van der Dussen also made a valuable contribution with 51 runs.

Despite the warm-up match loss, South Africa remains determined to make a strong showing in the upcoming World Cup.