Wednesday 5 February 2020 11:37, UK
Temba Bavuma says his impressive performance in South Africa's ODI victory over England on Tuesday shows he has earned his place in the national team.
The 29-year-old came in at No 3 and scored 98 as the Proteas comfortably beat the world champions by seven wickets in Cape Town.
It was Bavuma's third ODI and came after he was left out of three of the four matches during the Test series against England.
He returned for the final Test in Johannesburg - which England won to seal a 3-1 series victory - but there were suggestions Bavuma had only been recalled to help Cricket South Africa keep up with their transformation policy.
In an effort to redress the imbalances of the apartheid era, South Africa aim to include two black players and four from the mixed-race and Indian communities on average throughout the year.
Bavuma hit out at those claims, saying: "It has been hard. It's not so much the dropping part; all players get dropped, everyone goes through slumps of not scoring well.
"The awkwardness and discomfort from my side is when you are thrown into talks of transformation. Yes, I am black, that's my skin. But I play cricket because I love it.
"I'd like to think the reason I am in the team is because of performances I have put forward in my franchise side, and also for the national team, whenever I have been able to.
"The one thing that irks me is when you are seen through the eyes of transformation. When you do well, transformation is not spoken about but when you do badly, transformation is thrown at the top of the agenda. I have a serious problem with that.
"We've got to be able to take the good with the bad. If transformation is bad when black African players are not doing well, then when we are doing well, let's also recognise transformation for what it's done."
