Proteas captain Temba Bavuma and fast-bowler Lungi Ngidi have responded to the unfair and unprecedented social media criticism levelled at them by ex player, Herschelle Gibbs. They duo say it was disappointing coming from a legend of the game.
Gibbs, who is South Africa’s sixth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket, was seen and heard on a video that trended on social media praising Australia and ultimately saying they would beat the Proteas in the final of the World Test Championship.
His words
“Australia is such a confident [team]. They have so much belief in their ability, and they are just a confident nation,” Gibbs said in a video that went viral building up to the final.
“We are going to the final in June … it’s going to be a one-sided affair. Australia is completely the favourite to win it. And if you compare it man for man, they should beat us within three or four days. But you just never know with the conditions you get in England.
“I mean Steve Smith scored the most Test runs than our whole squad, that is scary,” Gibbs said while chuckling.
“He got to 10 00 runs, and if I’m not mistaken, Aiden [Markram] and Temba are probably our leading run scorers, and they are probably on 5,000 between the two of them. And Temba has been playing for f### 10 years already.”
Egg on face
However, the outcome in Lord’s was the opposite of what Gibbs had predicted, as Bavuma, alongside Makram, inspired the Proteas to a historic win and ended a 27-year ICC trophy drought.
They beat the Aussies by 5 wickets last Saturday and etched their names in the history of SA cricket.
Speaking to Sunday World at their final trophy parade in Bryanston on Thursday, Bavuma said that the team did not focus on the negativity, especially from the legends.
“To be honest, we don’t take any energy from those types of things. I think as a group we have been strong enough to remain internally dependent on ourselves … everything that we speak about individually and as a group, we stick to it and not feed off those types of things,” Bavuma said.
“The shine is shining on us, that is the term we use in the team. They were there, and their time has passed, so now it is on us. We have the responsibility to leave things in a better place, and we have definitely done that and are going to leave cricket in a good place.”
Lungi weighs in
Ngidi, who was also unfairly criticised and had his selection questioned, also weighed in on the matter following his impressive display at Lord’s.
“To be honest, it is what it is. They can’t control what I do on the field. All they can do is text on a phone or write whatever opinion they have on a phone, and that’s fine.”
“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. How I feel about that opinion, I think, is really irrelevant because at the end of the day, when I’m playing, it’s me out there, it’s not them.
“So it is, in my sense, disappointing because they’ve been there before, and I think they know how hard it is. So, in that sense, it’s really disappointing to read things like that.”
