"Incredible": Bavuma on South Africa's historic Test series win in India

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma celebrated their historic 2-0 Test series win against India, their first in 25 years. He described the achievement as 'incredible' and credited coach Shukri Conrad's meticulous planning for the success.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma reflected on their record Test series win in India, where they defeated the Gautam Gambhir-coached side by 2-0 last month, describing the achievement as "incredible". South Africa secured their first Test series win in India in 25 years, their previous success coming in 2000. They sealed the series with a 30-run victory in Kolkata, followed by a dominant 408-run win over India in the second Test at Guwahati.

Writing in his ESPNcricinfo column, Bavuma said their Test series win against India was remarkable. He pointed out that South Africa had last achieved a series victory in India back in 2000, and doing so again more than two decades later highlighted the scale of the accomplishment. "Our Test series victory against India was incredible. The craziest stat was that the last time we had won a Test series there was in the late Hansie Cronje's days as captain, in 2000. The fact that we did it two and a half decades later speaks to the magnitude of our performance and overall achievement. It's another feather in our cap as a side, and we're growing very well as a Test team," Bavuma said in his ESPNcricinfo column.

Overcoming Past 'Scars' in India

Bavuma said the team knew going into the 2025 series how challenging the tour of India would be, both mentally and technically, given the difficult past experiences. He explained that those memories created caution but also provided valuable lessons about how to succeed in Indian conditions.

"I guess we came into the 2025 series knowing how tough it can be. You don't want to admit it as such but there are scars that still kind of live there. You just hope that you don't reopen those wounds or relive those moments. There was that from a mental point of view, but also, with past experience, you know how tough it's going to be," Bavuma said. "From a technical point of view, you have a better understanding of what you need to do to be successful in those conditions. India is one of those places where you have to play there to experience it all and understand what you need to do in order to be successful. I'm very glad that the negative emotions and experiences of the past were not present this time round," he added.

Bavuma Credits Coach Shukri Conrad's Meticulous Planning

Under coach Shukri Conrad, South Africa defeated Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final and then drew a two-match series in Pakistan before clean-sweeping India in India. Speaking about Conrad's coaching, Bavuma credited him for South Africa's recent success, saying Conrad instils confidence in players and emphasises that performing at their best makes them nearly unbeatable. He added that Conrad's intense preparation for the India series, including months of planning and strategising, laid the groundwork for their dominant performance.

"In terms of coach Shukri getting the best out of us as players, that groundwork has been in play since we started. Shuks instils confidence in the players and makes them believe that they are the best. The premise is that if we play at our best, no one can stand near us," he added. "He was probably a lot more intense than I've seen him, but it was understandable - we were playing India in India, which is a big task. We have always wanted to prepare ourselves for these types of encounters. Between the two of us, there were months on end speaking about India. What type of team and players did we want? And what did we need to do to be successful? It wasn't a case of getting to India and saying, "Okay, how are we going to do things?" The seed was planted long before the Test series," Bavuma said further.

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