- Temba Bavuma says he is becoming more and more confident in his role as captain following a tough T20 World Cup campaign.
- Bavuma was praised for his handling of Quinton de Kock refusing to take the knee and leading the Proteas to four wins in five World Cup games.
- On Tuesday, Bavuma was grateful to move on, saying that it could've broken the Proteas but instead brought them together.
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma acknowledged that the pressure in the T20 World Cup was "tough" as off-field issues clouded the start of South Africa's campaign.
Despite the Proteas not being seen as favourites at the T20 World Cup, Bavuma was tasked with leading the team in his first-ever World Cup.
South Africa's campaign got off to a horror start with a five-wicket loss to Australia.
Hours before the West Indies game in Dubai, Cricket South Africa (CSA) sent out a special directive that the side must take a knee throughout the remainder of the competition.
Star batter Quinton de Kock refused and that saw him miss the West Indies clash.
Despite the Proteas registering their first win of the tournament, all attention turned to De Kock and his future.
At the post-match press conference, Bavuma was left to explain the situation to South African and international journalists in a reassuring and level-headed manner.
Following De Kock's apology, matters shifted back to cricket as the Proteas went on to register four wins in five games.
All the while, Bavuma stood tall despite the Proteas bowing out and he drew global praise for his handling of the team's off-field issues and their fightback in this year's rescheduled tournament.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday after returning home, Bavuma opened up over the De Kock incident and believed that it could've broken the team but instead brought them closer.
"Everything happened quite quickly to be honest, there wasn't much time to consult everyone from my side. I found myself in a position where I had to weigh both sides to the story and then express my opinion," Bavuma said.
"Sometimes the best way to go about something when you don't have a lot of time, it's best not to think about it. You can speak to the merits in hand and that it doesn't become premeditated or scripted or fake.
"I don't know who I would've spoken to at the time besides the team, we had our manager Volvo (Masubelele) and media manager Sipokazi (Sokanyile). I tried to craft up something within the moment.
"There were matters off the field that put us under pressure and it was a challenging time for the team. It was one of the moments that could've broken us, but it brought us together as a team. There's a lot of growth within the team."
Bavuma says he is becoming more confident in his role as captain as time goes by and is content with taking up the responsibility the position holds.
"I was tested a lot and put in a situation that was very hard to prepare for and I'm grateful that I was able to get out of that situation," he said.
"In terms of leadership, I am a lot more confident and more so with the team - gaining their trust and backing and confidence in each other. That's grown and I feel like we're in a better place going forward.
"The responsibility was always going to be a big one. We didn't achieve what we wanted to achieve at this World Cup, but we've still come up with our head held high."
Bavuma believes there had been a shift in energy regarding the Proteas and was pleased to help change people's perceptions of not only himself but the team.
"Before heading into the World Cup, not a lot of people had much faith in us and those are people within my own circle as well. The type of messages I was getting was like, 'Go enjoy the experience'. There was no tone of setting the sights to win the World Cup," said Bavuma.
"As the tournament unfolded the sentiments kind of changed and us qualifying came as a realistic goal until Australia beat Bangladesh the way they did.
"The other off-field matters with Quinton and how it was dealt with and helped increase people's belief in my ability as captain."
The Proteas' next assignment will be against the Netherlands with the first of three ODIs scheduled for Friday, 26 November at Centurion.