Bavuma acknowledges IPL catch-22 is tricky for all involved

Proteas limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma said it wasn't an ideal situation not to have your best players available for a series because of the Indian Premier League.

The 26 March start of the IPL means Bavuma's Test skipper Dean Elgar will be shorn of the services of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.

Cricket South Africa's Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South African Cricketer's Association allows for players to skip national duty to play in the IPL.

Bavuma wasn't opposed to players being away for IPL duty, but said lessons from previous years could have been taken into account when dealing with the matter,

"Having all your assets at your disposal is something that you would like as a captain," Bavuma said.

"Am I happy? Yes of course, but the situation isn't an ideal one and from someone who is not affected by this, I would have liked for this to be dealt with a lot earlier and with urgency.

"The fact that on the eve of when a Test squad will be announced the matter isn't clear isn't something that's ideal.

"We could have learned from previous years, especially in the Pakistan series where a decision could have been made a little earlier by everyone involved."

Unlike Elgar, Bavuma will have the three pacers available for the white-ball series, and with the Highveld again being wet ahead of the first ODI on Friday at SuperSport Park, the conditions may be right for exploitation.

SuperSport Park's most recent game saw the Titans bat first and score 300-plus in a big win against the Paarl Rocks, but Bavuma is happy to use any advantage the Highveld ground brings to him.

"In a home series, conditions do act as an advantage and I'd