Temba Bavuma owes his ascendancy to the Proteas Test captaincy to the bonds he and new coach Shukri Conrad forged while they oversaw the ODI series victory against England last month. That series revealed a new aggressive approach from Bavuma, something Conrad on Friday reiterated would be the style the Test team would also be following, starting with the two-match series against the West Indies later this month. “This was pretty much my decision. I felt Temba and I were a pretty good fit,” Conrad stated. “Temba and I have come a long way, he knows how I want to do things and I have a pretty good understanding of how he wants to run things. Those couple of days in Bloemfontein and Kimberley did go a long way in consolidating for me that Temba was going to be the captain. I think captaincy sits well with him. ” Conrad’s decision ended Dean Elgar’s nearly two-year tenure as skipper, in which results were mixed. The Proteas won eight of the 15 Tests since Elgar was appointed in May 2021, while losing six. His most notable achievement was beating India in 2022 after the side had been 0-1 down in that series. It was a turnaround he led with one of the finest innings by a Proteas batter at the Wanderers where he made a match-winning 96 not out. “Dean has done an exceptional job in the last couple of years, and that is something that I made very clear in my conversation with him. “Dean is still going to play a huge part in our leadership group. This doesn’t make Dean a poor captain and Temba a good captain. I just felt it was the right fit for me and the right fit going forward. ” And never mind tinkering, Conrad took a sledgehammer to the squad that toured Australia earlier this season. There’s no Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Sarel Erwee, Kyle Verreynne — the second highest run scorer for the Proteas in Australia — or Khaya Zondo in the 15-man squad announced on Friday. Instead there is a return for Aiden Markram — who will open the batting — Heinrich Klaasen will be keeper, because he suits the new style more than Verreynne, while Gerald Coetzee’s fiery displays in the SA20, saw him surpass Ngidi in the fast bowling pecking order for now. “I get paid to make certain calls. Subjectivity plays a part,” said Conrad. He emphasised that the door was not closed for players who missed out on selection, despite the fact that Theunis de Bruyn’s decision on Thursday to retire from international cricket made it look like that may have been the case. “No-one is in a position to say that there is not a way back in. A change had to be made. There is always a way in. We are never going to be in a position where as a coach you turn your back on a player,” said Conrad. He held talks with all the players explaining why they were not considered, and also making clear what they needed to do to get back into the side. “Score a mountain of runs at domestic level and at a good strike rate, which is critical for me. Batters have to dominate domestically, not only with the amount of runs but the rate at which those runs are scored. ” Conrad explained that the way the modern game was being played — as exemplified by England in the Test format — there was a danger that the Proteas would be left behind. “What I’ve seen as a problem in the past is that we have managed really to bat ourselves into a hole, because we don’t challenge ourselves to bat at a good rate. “If you can’t score at a really good rate at domestic level, trust me, it will be a lot worse at international level. ” Proteas Test squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortjé, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month. .