Elgar and Bavuma Proteas' captaincies under scrutiny as CSA look to the future

There's seemingly no guarantee that Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma, the Proteas' current red- and white-ball captains, will still occupy their leadership positions in the future.

Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter's appointments in the respective formats, officially confirmed on Monday, have placed a firm spotlight on the two men's willingness to mould teams with the future in mind, raising doubts over how they view captaincy.

Cricket South Africa's (CSA) overall Proteas performance strategy for the coming years - spearheaded by director of cricket Enoch Nkwe - is predicated on success in the 2027 50-over World Cup at home and the 2025 to 2027 World Test Championship cycle.

To that end, Nkwe has specifically earmarked the next two years for South Africa to broaden its Test team's pool of depth - rendering Dean Elgar's age (35) a factor - while Bavuma (32) might be a shoo-in in the short term as the Proteas aim to qualify for this year's 50-over showpiece in India, but could make way afterwards.

"The reality is that these two captains are not going to captain for the next five years. We need to identify who is going to be the next two captains and how much time we give them to blood them," said Nkwe in terms of potential succession planning.

"Those are some of the hard conversations we are going to be having over the next month so that everything is clear. We are not saying we are firing anyone, but over the next month or three months, we need to build stability, so by that time the season finished, it’s very clear."

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Nkwe admitted that neither Elgar nor Bavuma were canvassed for input on the recruitment process but will be having engagements