Batsman Temba Bavuma is determined to showcase some burgeoning T20I credentials during this months’ series against India.

Bavuma has largely been pigeonholed as a Test match cricketer since 2014’s debut, but did strike a century on ODI debut against Ireland in 2016.

That limited-overs promise has since yielded selection in the T20I squad. Fast bowler Anrich Nortje, spinner Bjorn Fortuin and all-rounder George Linde, who also haven’t been capped in the shortest format of the international game, have also been included.

‘This opportunity has come earlier than I thought‚ but I’m here now and I’d like to do the most that I can,’ said Bavuma.

‘People are quite quick to label you as a certain type of player. That could be a good and a bad thing. Proving people wrong is always an extra motivation.

‘You’re always going to have people who fight on your side and people who try to look to bring you down. The last thing you want is to take all of that to heart. I focus on what I want to achieve.’

The right-handed Bavuma impressed during Gauteng’s 2018 Africa T20 Cup campaign – and was the Lions’ second-highest run-scorer in the 2019 CSA T20 Challenge.

‘Last year I made a conscious effort to improve my white-ball game. I tried to play as many T20s as I could. Those were goals that I set‚ not based on what other people were saying,’ he added.

‘As an international player‚ where pressure is coming from left‚ right and centre‚ you want to be listening to the voice between your ears and not to all the noise out there.’

The first T20I will be played in Dharamsala on Sunday.

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