"You Don't Take Them Lightly Even..."- Temba Bavuma Reveals Australia's Strength In ICC Events

Australia have always given South Africa a heartbreak in ICC events, with the most recent one being the semi-final of the ODI World Cup 2023. However, this time round in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the Australian team is without their main bowlers, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

That should keep South Africa hopeful of an easy win against the Aussies , especially after how they played well against Afghanistan.

But the Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma is not ready to believe that any match against Australia could be an easy affair for South Africa in ICC events. 

“I mean any Australian outfit that comes together for an ICC event is always one that you don't take lightly. Yes, they don't have their main-stay bowling attack, but I think they still have enough to be successful as a team,” Bavuma said in the pre-match press conference on February 24 (Monday). 

Talking about his team’s strategy in the tournament, Bavuma said that whether the coin falls in his favour, they will be going for the win. 

“The wickets are ones that are favourable towards batting. Batting second does seem to be the thing. It does seem to be a bit easier and a bit tough to defend. If we find ourselves on the other side of the coin toss where we are batting first, then we will have to do that extremely well,” said the 34-year-old.