Summary:
New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) In 2001, sixth grade students at the prestigious South African College Schools (SACS) in Cape Town were assigned a project -- "Where do I see myself in 15 years?" It was a tiny 11-year-old, whose essay found the pride of place in the school magazine.
"I see myself in fifteen years in my suit and shaking (then SA president Thabo) Mr Mbeki"s hand congratulating me for making the South African side," sixth grader Temba Bavuma, wrote in his submission.
"If I do I would definitely thank my coaches and parents who support me all the way and especially my two uncles who gave me the skills of being one (a Proteas representative)," read the note which was widely carried by local media.
For many, it could have merely been musings of an impressionable pre-teen but when in 2016, exactly 15 years later, Bavuma became the first black South African to score a century in Test cricket, Mbeki was already out of presidency.
But standing at barely 62 inches, Bavuma with his self-prophecy coming true, grew in stature in a South Africa, which is still going through a healing process even three decades after the end of apartheid.
And knowingly or unknowingly, Bavuma is playing his significant role as the first Black South African national cricket captain, who is not just a symbol but a beacon of hope for a society that is trying to be more inclusive for the oppressed half.