On the face of it, things couldn't be going better for Temba Bavuma.
South Africa's Test captain has never lost a series, and only been defeated in one of his 15 matches in charge. Last month, he became one of a quintet of South African skippers, after Peter van der Merwe, Ali Bacher and Faf du Plessis, to beat Australia in a home series and he brought up a career-best 179 in the process. But on the eve of his next assignment, to lead the team against Bangladesh in two Tests, it has not been lost on Bavuma that around that peak are some troughs and at the very bottom is his relationship with offspin.
Bavuma was dismissed five times in three Tests against Australia, four times to offspin and three to Nathan Lyon. Overall, no bowler has dismissed Bavuma more than Lyon in his entire Test career: seven times in 11 matches. For good measure, Moeen Ali is joint-third on the list of bowlers who have had Bavuma's number and according to Cricinfo data, in his first-class career, Bavuma has been dismissed 36 times by 19 different offspinners. Dane Piedt also features high on the list and it's clear it's not just a one-bowler issue.
"I've had my struggles throughout my career, really, when it comes to offspin," Bavuma said at the Wanderers, the day before the first Test against Bangladesh. "[I'm not sure] whether it's a technical thing, whether it's a mental thing. That challenge will be there now with Mehidy [Hasan Miraz].
"I've had the opportunity to face him in the past, so I kind of understand the type of challenge that he brings. But, with all batters, I guess, there's always some type of bowling that gets you out. I remember earlier on, it was left-arm bowling that supposedly had my number."
At least, Bavuma knows his weaknesses well, and he is right about left-armers too. Neil Wagner has accounted for Bavuma four times in seven matches while Mitchell Starc and Shaheen Shah Afridi have had the better of him three times each. He fared better against Starc in their most recent meeting and will need to shift attention to how he plans to play against Bangladesh's offspinner, especially given their history.
Bavuma has faced Mehidy in six innings for a total of 166 balls, scored 85 runs off him and been dismissed twice, both times in Bangladesh's last tour to South Africa, in 2022. Bavuma was on 93 in Durban when he rocked back to cut Mehidy and work his way to a century but was beaten by turn, the ball fizzed past his inside-edge and hit leg stump. In the next match, in Gqeberha, Bavuma was on 30 in the second innings when he cleared the front leg, missed his slog and was out lbw.
The spin that got Bavuma at Kingsmead is unlikely to be present at the Wanderers but that's not the only danger he faces. Against Australia in Durban, it also didn't turn but Bavuma was out reverse-sweeping Lyon and then popped a catch up to short leg a catch when he got forward to defend Matt Renshaw. At Newlands, Bavuma was bowled by Lyon for a third-ball duck as he played for turn that wasn't there and then, in the second innings, fought his way to 35 before stepping across to try and whip Lyon over square leg, was beaten through the bat-pad gap and bowled.
All these examples suggest that against offspin, Bavuma has had a tendency to commit to a shot early, and even gets himself into position to play it, before he has allowed himself to see the ball's trajectory. Is it something he has been thinking about? He wouldn't give too much away. "I'll focus maybe a little bit more on it, whatever positions that I'm getting into. But, I'll be looking forward to that challenge."
How Bavuma progresses against offspin will be crucial to this series, the next one against England, with Dan Lawrence and Joe Root in the squad, and the final series of the cycle in Sri Lanka. So far, Bavuma has been among South Africa's best batters in this period (behind Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram, though they have played two more matches than him) and understands he is the axle around which the line-up turns.
South Africa's batting remains reliant on Bavuma, Markram and lower-order runs as Marques Ackerman looks to solidify his place as an opener and Zubayr Hamza and Matthew Breetzke aim to bed in at No. 3 and 5 respectively. Then, they have Rickelton and allrounders Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen, both of whom have scored pivotal runs recently and Bavuma wants to see more of the mettle of that pair in everyone else.
"That was what we really spoke about as the batters, how we can be a lot more ruthless," he said. "When we have the game by the scruff of its neck, how do we really bury the opposition and not give them a chance? Throughout our three-year journey as a team, there have been a lot of incidents like that, where you can deem it to be soft, where we've given the opposition some sort of life. For us, in terms of where we think we can get better as a team, it's about how we can win those moments and really bury the opposition."
South Africa's first opportunity to do that starts on Sunday, where they take on Bangladesh at the Wanderers, followed by the second Test in Centurion from November 23.