Du Plessis: Number 4 a good position for Bavuma

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis has backed Temba Bavuma to fill the vacant number four position in the batting order during the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka.

South Africa will play Tests in Galle (12-16 July) and Colombo (20-24 July) later this month in what will be their first international matches since the retirement AB de Villiers.

The Proteas are coming off an historic home summer in which they beat India and Australia in the longest format with De Villiers in superb form with the bat for the hosts.

However, the 34-year-old shocked the world when he announced he was quitting the international scene in May with the Proteas now left to fill a gaping hole in the middle-order.

Speaking to the media before departing for the subcontinent, Du Plessis is confident Bavuma can step up to fill the vacancy but they have not yet made any decisions for what is expected to be spin-friendly pitches.

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The Proteas skipper said about Bavuma: “Number four will probably be a good position for him. There will be some good discussions in the team.

“Obviously, when you go to the subcontinent, the hardest places to bat will be in the middle because you come in facing the spinning and the reverse swinging ball.

So what I think we will discuss is that we will try and get our best players of spin in the middle periods to try and counter that.

“So if that gives an opportunity to change our batting lineup a little bit, we will definitely be looking into that.”

The Proteas will also play five ODIs and a one-off T20I against Sri Lanka after the Test series.

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