South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma to travel back home; will miss World Cup 2023 Warm-up games - Reports

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma will fly back home due to family reasons and will miss the warm-up fixtures of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 against Afghanistan and New Zealand.

While the Proteas have already arrived in India for the showpiece event, the 33-year-old will reportedly travel home on Thursday. South Africa's T20I skipper, Aiden Markram, will lead the side in Bavuma's absence.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) released a statement on the development and confirmed Bavuma's return to the side from the side's tournament opener.

"Bavuma will miss the two ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 warm-up matches against Afghanistan and New Zealand on 29 September and 02 October respectively. Aiden Markram will captain the side in his absence," CSA said in a statement.

Bavuma missed the penultimate game of South Africa's recent 3-2 ODI series win at home against Australia. The diminutive opener has been in scintillating form in the 50-over format, with an average of 79.62 and a strike rate of 104.08 in 10 games this year.

He has scored three centuries and a 90 in his last nine ODI innings, including a brilliant 114* in the opening game against Australia.

The Proteas will take on Afghanistan and New Zealand in their warm-up matches in Thiruvananthapuram on September 29 and October 2, respectively.

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South Africa will look to break their ODI World Cup drought in the 2023 edition

Bavuma will look to become the first South African captain to win the World Cup trophy.

Despite being among the most formidable sides over the last three decades, South Africa have always come up empty-handed at the World Cups.

While they have endured a few misfortunes with rain and other factors ending a few of their campaigns, the Proteas have also been victims of their crumbling under the weight of expectations.

Following their reinstation to cricket, South Africa put on an inspirational performance in their first-ever World Cup in 1992. However, in the semi-final, the Proteas were on the wrong end of a Duckworth-Lewis method against England to bow out of the tournament.

Four years later, South Africa remained unbeaten through the group stages only to be eliminated in the quarter-finals by a Brian Lara masterclass against the West Indies. 1999 remains possibly the most heartbreaking exit of them all, with the Proteas losing out on net run rate following a tie with the Australians in the semi-final.

The next four editions all had their share of poor cricket at the most inopportune times by the South Africans to be eliminated from the competition. Similar to the upcoming edition, the side was not among the favorites in the 2019 World Cup, and true to their billing, they missed out on qualifying for the final four.

With an impressive home series win against the five-time world champions Australia, the Proteas will hope to fly under the radar and return home with the elusive trophy in hand.

They will kickstart their campaign against Sri Lanka in Delhi on October 7.