He says he waits patiently for his chances and, at the Wankhede, he made the most of the one he got – despite only five minutes’ notice
Firdose Moonda22-Oct-2023Five minutes before Aiden Markram walked out at the Wankhede to toss in place of Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks found out his name had been added to the team sheet. That’s not an exaggeration for dramatisation’s sake. That is exactly how it happened, according to the man himself.”It was literally five minutes before the toss; coach came up to me and said, ‘You’re in,’ and I said, ‘I’m in! Okay cool, let’s go,’ and that’s exactly how I found out,” Hendricks told the media afterwards. “I obviously had to scramble and get myself into a good mindset to play the game.”There are unanswered questions about why Hendricks was unaware that Bavuma was not well and why he wasn’t put on standby before the team arrived at the ground, or at some point during the warm-ups, which Markram said Bavuma tried to brave through. If Markram knew Bavuma was struggling, it would seem only reasonable that the player who would have to replace him – Hendricks – should have known that too. Especially given the importance of the match, which was South Africa’s fourth of the group stage and first since losing to Netherlands.Perhaps in the coming days we will know more about the sudden onset of Bavuma’s illness and its seriousness. What we know for now is that he had to leave the ground about an hour into the game and watched a match that took place at a venue he dreamt of playing in from the team hotel. He will get another opportunity to emulate his idol, Sachin Tendulkar, if he is well enough on Tuesday, when South Africa play Bangladesh at the same ground.We also know that Hendricks, who was drafted into the side at the last of last minutes, was able to compose himself quickly enough in the circumstances to score a confident 85 in his first fifty-over appearance in over a month and only his fourth ODI this year. “It was quite challenging,” Hendricks conceded. “I felt everything was quite rushed for about an hour and a half. I had to somehow try to calm myself down and obviously they bowled well upfront so that didn’t help either. Luckily I got settled and then things started to fall into place quite easily.”Hendricks watched as Quinton de Kock slammed the first ball through point for four and then nicked behind off Reece Topley the next ball. He watched Rassie van der Dussen come in, under some pressure after playing a reverse sweep straight to a Dutch fielder a few days ago, and approach England’s bowlers with caution. He watched 13 balls before he scored his first run, a stunning square drive to get his first runs of the tournament. There would be more, including the first six of the innings, off a Mark Wood cutter, and two down the ground off Joe Root, as well as a pantheon of pulls. Together with van der Dussen, he laid the launchpad for Heinrich Klaasen and the rest… well, you know what happened.That Hendricks can play is obvious to anyone. How long he will continue to play in the ODI team is the point of discussion.Historically, South Africa have applied a principle of preferential treatment for the incumbent, which means if a player missed a match, a series or even a few months with an injury or illness, they slot back into the starting XI when available. Keshav Maharaj is the most recent example and re-established himself as the first-choice spinner after returning from a ruptured Achilles. That means when Bavuma recovers, Hendricks will be back to the bench.That’s not an unfamiliar position to him after there was also no space for him in South Africa’s T20 side at last year’s T20 World Cup, despite him scoring four successive half-centuries in the format three months before the tournament. The reason? Bavuma returned from an elbow injury and, as the appointed captain, had to take his place in the team.Then, the situation was tense because Bavuma was in poor T20 form and has since stepped down from the leadership of the T20I side. Now, it is not quite the same. Bavuma averages 63.27 in ODIs this year and has scored three hundreds in crucial games. His World Cup returns so far are modest – 59 runs from three innings – but he led South Africa to two wins in their first two games. Although he lacks experience in India and has only played four ODIs in the country, he approaches the game as a scholar and his tactical acumen as captain has been widely praised. He is expected to be back in the side as soon as he returns to full health and, for now, there isn’t much arguing against that.Hendricks’ position is further complicated because South Africa have no other way to make room for him. The balance of the current side cannot accommodate seven specialist batters without leaving them a bowler short no matter which way you try to juggle it. They need Marco Jansen in the allrounder role at No.7 with three quicks and a spinner or two of each. While Markram is a bowling option, South Africa are unlikely to go in with four specialists and expect a full 10 overs from him in every match and Hendricks, who also bowls offspin, has only sent down seven overs in his ODI career.At least, this is not something Hendricks is completely unused to. He has never been a regular in the team and has become accustomed to his role as a back-up and approaches it philosophically. “It’s challenging but you have to make peace with the situation and see how things unfold. I have to try and control what I can and that means me being ready when the opportunity arises,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how it comes but I’m training every day, making sure I am on top of my game, controlling what I can and making sure I wait patiently for the opportunity to come. There’s no point beating around the bush and being hard on yourself. I try to stay in a good frame of mind and, when the opportunity comes, to make sure I am on top of my game.”On that front, he gets full marks. With a five-minute warning, he played an innings that set the tone for a statement win over England and put South Africa in a situation most teams would be only too happy to deal with: a problem of plenty. How they solve it could define this World Cup campaign.