Temba Bavuma stands tall but we still short-change him
Growing up in a society with a history of racial discrimination, the 35-year-old, since the time he made sense of his surroundings, would have been brutally made to realise the two big disadvantages he was born with - being black and being small.
Under Temba Bavuma, South Africa has made history again. After the World Test Championship title, Bavuma has helped his team cross what was once called the “final frontier” — beating India in India. It was a Test where the 5’3″ skipper had faced casual heightism on the field and now even in praise there were those who couldn’t help but throw what they thought was a smart line: “Smallest player on the field having the biggest heart”. This insensitivity is common practice in cricket.
Before leaving England, opener Ben Duckett seemed to have resigned to the dispiriting eventuality that awaited him in Australia. “I know what they are going to call me. I’ve had it my whole life. I only have to stand by the Western Terrace [at Headingley] and the English fans are at me for being small. We’ll see how that goes — probably not well,” Duckett would tell former England captain and present cricket correspondent at The Sunday Times, Michael Atherton. Bavuma too might be taking the cricket field with that same not-too-pleasant, “We’ll see how it goes … probably not well” feeling. Actually, his trauma is deeper, and longer. In a society with a history of racial discrimination, the 35-year-old, since the time he made sense of his surroundings, would have been brutally made to realise the two big disadvantages he was born with in a racist society: Being Black and being small. For him, skin colour would have resulted in prejudice from birth, height-shaming might have kicked off around adolescence.
Growing up in the Black township of Langa, a Cape Town suburb, Bavuma didn’t let taunts or systemic segregation hinder his pursuit to be a top batsman. It is where 35 Black people were killed in the 1985 Langa massacre. Bavuma’s runs would knock down most hurdles, he would prove to the world that boys from townships aren’t born just to run in and bowl fast. They can be graceful batsmen and more importantly, be well-respected and loved leaders of a diverse nation. Today, Bavuma is to his squad of 15 what Nelson Mandela was to millions. But still, when the bowler and wicket-keeper are furiously debating a DRS call against him, wondering if the ball that has impacted the pads would have hit the wicket, with the stump microphone invading the privacy of a team huddle, Bavuma gets referred to as a bauna — dwarf in Hindi. This happened during the Guwahati Test.
It can be argued that it wasn’t a sledge but an instinctive reference to the batsman’s short stature. Many will say it was bad-word selection and not a conscious derogatory utterance. But it is still an irony, make it a tragedy, that the unfortunate event happened in a Test where Bavuma towered over every batsman in the game. It was a match where he added many metres to his stature as a batsman who delivers in big games, but he still couldn’t alter his image of a 5’3″ male. It is anybody’s guess how many more such monumental innings Bavuma would have to play to uncouple his height from his identity. He has been doing this for a while. In 2016, in his seventh Test, he became the first Black South African to score a Test hundred. In the match where England’s Ben Stokes called him “absolute shit”, there were jokes about his height. When will the world get over its juvenile “lambu-chhotu” caricaturing of humans with varying heights?
Research on height discrimination takes one to a fascinating book titled Shortchanged by American author Tanya Osensky. It explains the failure of human evolution to wipe out the disturbing tall-short prejudice. Osensky mentions how language has also dutifully chronicled this age-old bias. She writes how “we look up” to those who are tall and attribute positive personality characteristics to them while we ascribe negative traits to those “we look down on”. Other casual height-discrimination references have silently snuck into spoken English and stayed there: Shortchanged, getting the short end of the stick, small-minded, and belittling are words that give a whiff of negativity. While a “bigger person”, “riding high” and “making it big” are all laudatory attributes in a human.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma plays against India at the Eden Gardens. (Express Photo | Partha Paul)
Sports could have done better, it should have got over heightism long back. There are enough 5-something legends to prove that greatness isn’t the virtue of 6-somethings. Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli or Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta — none were ever called tall but they were larger-than-life figures, hailed as Little Masters. Why can’t they just be seen as Masters? If age is just a number, why can’t height be the same?
Sandeep Dwivedi is the Sports Editor at The Indian Express. He is one of India's most prominent sports journalists, known for his deep analytical insights and storytelling that often goes beyond scores and statistics to explore the human and cultural side of sports.
Professional Profile
Role: As the Sports Editor, he leads the sports coverage for the newspaper and the website.
Weekly Column: He writes "The Sports Column," a weekly feature where he provides sharp, narrative-driven perspectives on the biggest sporting news of the week.
Podcast: He is a frequent contributor to the "Express Sports" podcast (Game Time), where he discusses evolving trends in cricket and other international sports.
Areas of Expertise
While Dwivedi covers the entire sporting spectrum, his work is particularly noted in the following areas:
Cricket: He provides extensive coverage of the Indian National Team and the IPL. He frequently analyzes the leadership styles of figures like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Gautam Gambhir. He is known for tracking the transition phases of Indian cricket and the evolution of specific players like Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant.
Athletics & Olympic Sports: He has written extensively on Neeraj Chopra’s rise in javelin, the nuances of Indian shooting, and tennis legends like Sania Mirza and Leander Paes.
Human Interest Stories: A hallmark of his writing is his focus on the struggles and backgrounds of athletes, such as the sacrifices made by Shafali Verma’s father or the "silent battles" of veteran players like Cheteshwar Pujara.
Notable Recent Work & Themes
Leadership and Dynamics: Recently, he has written about the dynamic between Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, arguing that personal friendship is not a prerequisite for team success.
Sports & Culture: His articles often intersect with global culture, such as his deep dive into the 100-year legacy of the Harlem Globetrotters and their role as American soft power during the Cold War.
The "Grey Areas" of Sport: He often addresses sensitive topics like the mental health of cricketers post-retirement, the "outrage industry" in sports broadcasting, and the impact of fan-wars on the game.
Tenure and Experience
Dwivedi has been with The Indian Express for over three decades. This experience allows him to provide historical context to modern sporting events, often comparing current crises or triumphs to those of previous generations.
You can follow his latest work and columns on his official Indian Express Author Profile. ... Read More
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma plays against India at the Eden Gardens. (Express Photo | Partha Paul)
