South Africa suffered a massive setback ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2025 as red-ball skipper Temba Bavuma is down with an elbow injury yet again. The right-hand batter will miss the domestic first-class final, which is due to begin in Johannesburg today. The 34-year-old was set to join the Lions team on Tuesday from Cape Town, but the injury meant he did not arrive in South Africa's capital city, Johannesburg.
For the unversed, the Lions found out late on Wednesday that the Proteas captain would not feature in the final due to a niggle, which incidentally occurred just over two months before the World Test Championship Final against Australia in June.
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According to an ESPNcricinfo report, Bavuma has suffered an injury to his left elbow—the same one he was treated for last year. Nobody is aware of the seriousness of South Africa's red-ball skipper's injury, and the Lions team was taken aback by Bavuma's sudden withdrawal on Wednesday morning.
Temba Bavuma's long-standing elbow problem yet again comes to fore before the WTC Final
It is to be noted, that Bavuma fractured his left elbow in 2022, which ruled him out of South Africa's tour to England and sidelined him for three months. The right-hand batter yet again injured the same elbow when he fell badly while completing one run against Ireland in an ODI game in Abu Dhabi in September 2024 and missed South Africa's two-Test tour in Bangladesh. The 34-year-old made a stunning comeback from the elbow setback in 2024 and slammed two Test centuries against Sri Lanka and Pakistan late in 2024.
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Bavuma has also been the Proteas best Test batter for over two years, averaging close to 60 in the middle order. He is a vital player in the Test team and is also their crisis man in critical moments in the longest format of the game. The game against the Lions was the last chance for Bavuma to play a first-class red ball game ahead of the WTC Final.
While South Africa plans to play practice matches from mid-May, including a game against England or Ireland, they will not play any Test matches before the WTC Final. All of their main players are currently involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season and others on the county circuit. Bavuma is not involved in either and was supposed to play for the Lions in the first-class final game. However, the latest elbow setback has jeopardized those plans.
