'wounded Warrior' Temba Bavuma Played Through The Pain Barrier To Help Proteas Make History

Proteas red-ball coach Shukri Conrad revealed that captain Temba Bavuma wasn't fully fit despite piling on the runs and guiding South Africa to the World Test Championship final.

Bavuma entered the South African summer recovering from an elbow injury sustained during the One-Day International series against Ireland in the United Arab Emirates. The injury saw him miss out on the two-Test series against Bangladesh, which meant he went into series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan cold and without any time in the middle.

But Bavuma, with a heavily strapped elbow, came to the party when his team needed him most, scoring a match-defining 70 in the first innings against Sri Lanka on a seaming wicket at Kingsmead in Durban, before following it up with a century in the second innings.

All-in-all, Bavuma scored 504 runs at an average 72 over the course of the four Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, scoring two centuries and three half-centuries in seven innings.

In a few of those knocks he looked in some discomfort, but such was the determination of the man to see the team reach their goal - winning at least three out of the four Tests to reach the Lord's showpiece match - that he soldiered on.