Temba Bavuma out of Cape Town Test vs India; Dean Elgar to lead

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the second Test against India in Cape Town with a hamstring injury. He injured his left hamstring injury while chasing the ball to the boundary in the 20th over on Day One of the Centurion Test, went off the field and never returned. 

"The 33-year-old sustained the injury while fielding on day one of the first Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Tuesday. Subsequent scans revealed a hamstring strain which kept him out of South Africa’s first innings," a release from Cricket South Africa (CSA) said. 

"He will undergo further medical assessments prior to the start of the Betway SA20 to determine his availability for the Sunrisers Eastern Cape." 

In his absence, Dean Elgar will lead the Proteas in his last ever Test, while Zubayr Hamza comes in as Bavuma's replacement.

Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad felt that he did not feel the need to risk Bavuma with the team in a comfortable position, having secured a 163-run first innings lead.

"Temba is not in a great physical state," Conrad said said after South Africa's thrashed India by an innings and 32 runs on Day Three in Centurion.

"He was ready to bat at every turn, and we kept monitoring it. When we reached where we reached, not because we felt that was enough, we felt that if we sent him out then there was a potential risk that he could aggravate the risk even further. We were constantly giving ourselves maximum time so we could give out the right information. If we lost wickets early, he would have walked on. With 150 runs ahead, I felt it wasn't necessary to risk Temba."

This was Bavuma's first outing since his side's World Cup semi-defat at the hands of Australia last month. He is believed to be carrying a hamstring injury in that game, but was declared fit to play in the semis. He was rested from the white-ball series ahead of the Tests, and was also due to play in a warm-up game ahead of the Centurion Test, but missed that due to personal reasons. But he declared that he was mentally as fresh as ever ahead of the game.

South Africa lead the two-match Test series 1-0. The second Test in Cape Town will get underway from January 3 onwards.