South Africa captain Temba Bavuma (PTI Photo/Shahbaz Khan) South Africa completed a stunning 408-run victory over India in the second Test in Guwahati to seal a 2 0 clean sheet and cap off one of their greatest years in cricket. Earlier in June, they beat Australia to win the World Test Championship, finally ending a 27-year wait for an ICC trophy. No South African captain has lifted the global title since 1998 and no South African captain has won a Test series in India for 25 years. Temba Bavuma has now done both. This team will forever be remembered as the Class of 2025, the group that ended a decade of heartbreak for a cricket-loving nation. Over the years, South Africa have borne the brunt of near misses and painful exits that would have broken many sides. Yet this team, built on resilience and honesty, fought on. They came to India with faith and now walk into the rest of their season with history behind them.
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Bavuma has come to represent all that his name stands for. Temba means hope in Xhosa. His grandmother chose his name and today he carries its meaning with pride. He gave his country hope at a time when it was most needed. Unbeaten in 12 Tests with 11 wins and 1 draw, a world title at Lord’s and now a rare winning streak in India. Before him, only Hansie Cronje (the last South African captain to win in India) had done it in 2000. Bavuma now stands alongside him in the record books with an unbeaten record as Test captain. The Guwahati Test felt decided the moment Sen Muthusamy and Marco Jansen put together that crucial strike on day two. South Africa turned 247 for 6 into 489, then Jansen used the red ground to create a nasty bounce and blow India away in the first innings. They chose not to push for the follow-on and instead batted India out of the match. Some doubted the extended second innings as the team waited for Tristan Stubbs to reach a hundred, but it didn’t matter. Day five belonged to Simon Harmer, who finished with six wickets and finished the job with calm authority. South Africa now look ahead to the white-ball leg of the tour, carrying the confidence of a world title, a historic away triumph and a captain who reshaped the narrative of an entire cricketing nation. Temba Bavuma and his team are at the forefront of a new era of South African cricket.
