Battling Bavuma has backing of Proteas dressing room: 'We all know his ability'

Captain Temba Bavuma's batting woes persist at the T20 World Cup in Australia, but he continues to receive the support of the entire Proteas dressing room. 

That was the strong message from Aiden Markram on Sunday following the side's crucial five-wicket win over India in Perth. 

Markram (52 off 41) and David Miller (59* off 46) were the heroes of the Proteas chase, which had limped along to 24/3 after six overs in pursuit of 134 for victory. 

Bavuma scored 10 (15) and never looked comfortable against the Indian pace and swing. 

Remarkably, this was the first time the skipper had reached double figures in international T20 cricket since June. 

His last 10 scores in the format working backwards from Sunday now read: 10, 2, 2*, 3, 0, 0, 8*, 8, 35 and 10. 

The Proteas, though, are a side with momentum and the win over India leaves them top of Pool 2 in the Super 12 and close to qualifying for the tournament semi-finals. 

Bavuma, of course, is the appointed leader of this World Cup campaign, which makes leaving him out for the in-form Reeza Hendricks more complicated than the statistics might suggest at this stage. 

"Every player goes through these form slumps and with games that are so close to each other, it can seem a lot worse than it is," said Markram. 

"The whole team and management have all been there for Temba, and ideas don't change about his ability. We all know his ability in our team and the role that he plays, not just with the bat but also from a leadership point of view.

"His leadership, in my opinion, has been excellent and the on-field decisions he's been making have been really good."

Head coach Mark Boucher had said after the Zimbabwe game that Bavuma was "looking good in the nets", and Markram also believed that his