Jasprit Bumrah (R) and Temba Bavuma (AP Photo) NEW DELHI: South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has broken his silence on a controversial on-field comment involving Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant during the first Test of the series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, revealing that both Bumrah and Pant later apologized to him for the remark that sparked widespread debate.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!The incident occurred on Day 1 of the match on 14 November when Bumrah believed Bavuma was LBW and engaged in an argument with Pant about taking DRS control after the on-field umpire dismissed the appeal. A stub clip of their exchange went viral and Bumrah appeared to refer to Bavuma as a “bauna”, a term often associated with dwarfism and widely seen as offensive when aimed at someone’s figure.
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Bavuma said in his ESPNcricinfo column that he was initially unaware of the comment and only learned about it later through his team’s media manager.“I know there was an incident from my side where they said something about me in their language,” Bavuma wrote. “At the end of the day, two senior players Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah came and apologized.Bavuma admitted that he was initially confused by the apology. “When the apology was made, I didn’t know what it was about. I hadn’t heard it at the time and needed to check with our media manager.”
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Bavuma stressed that such incidents are part of the intensity of elite cricket, but made it clear that words spoken on the field do not just go away. “What happens on the field stays on the field, but you don’t forget what was said,” he noted. “You use it as fuel and motivation, but there are no grudges as such.The South African captain added that a high-stakes series against India inevitably brings heightened emotions. “A series against India is always going to be intense, and when it’s heated, it makes for an even bigger spectacle and motivates the players to keep going,” he wrote, stressing that the mutual respect between the players ultimately remained intact.Bavuma’s comments come on the back of a historic success for South Africa, who under his leadership completed a dominant Test series 2-0 win over India on their home soil, their first such feat since 2000. Reflecting on the tour, Bavuma said the moments of controversy only underlined how fiercely the series was contested – and how determined his side were to make history.
