Temba Bavuma admits injury frustration but 'fresh and excited' for Sri Lanka Tests

Bavuma admitted it was frustrating to sit on the sidelines for the recent Test series victory in Bangladesh even though he was happy for the team to do well in the sub-continent.

The South Africa skipper last played in a competitive game on 4 October when he injured his elbow going for a quick single in an ODI against Ireland in Abu Dhabi.

The 34-year-old also pulled his hamstring in South Africa's last home Test series against India on Boxing Day last year, causing him to miss the New Year's match at Newlands.

Bavuma told reporters: "As much as the guys played as well as they did against Bangladesh, it was quite frustrating from my side not being able to take part in that.

"But obviously, I had a lot of joy in how the guys performed. "I don't know what the next couple of weeks or months look like. I'm just happy that I'm able to speak to you guys at this point in time.

"I'll try to prepare as much as I can from a physical and mental point of view. And hopefully the gods can smile on me a little bit longer."

Bavuma is part of the Proteas squad preparing for the two Test matches against the touring Sri Lanka but has now not played a competitive match in close to seven weeks.

While it is always a risk going into a Test match with no game time under the belt, the middle-order batter feels the break from the game could be a blessing in disguise.

"I feel quite fresh and excited as well to have the opportunity to be batting, to be putting on my pads, to be running on the field," Bavuma said.

"From a skill point of view, it's always just got to build it, just build that confidence - feel yourself hitting the ball out the middle and feel your movements are the way that you want them to be."

The Proteas find themselves in with a more than a realistic opportunity of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final with four matches still to play at home (two against Sri Lanka and then two against Pakistan).

If the hosts win all four matches they will be guaranteed a place in the showpiece game at Lord's in June next year, and Bavuma is hoping the home crowds in South Africa will spur the team on to achieve their goal.

"There's lots of excitement," he said. "Obviously, as a group, starting the WTC cycle, that's one of the things that we spoke about in terms of what we'd like to achieve.

"We understand that the expectation and the pressure will probably ramp up. From a belief point of view, that's definitely grown within the team.

"We're playing at home during festive times and playing in front of our home fans. Hopefully the stadiums will have a little bit more people than we are accustomed to.

"We've been putting in some good performances so from a confidence, belief point of view, it's been good to see. As a team, we'll ride that for as long as it lives within us."

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