Early Life

Raised in Langa's intense cricket culture - Bavuma, Thami Tsolekile and Malusi Siboto all come from the same street - Bavuma was educated at the South African College Junior School in Newlands and at St David's Marist Inanda, a boys' high school in Sandton .

Domestic Career

Bavuma made his debut in Gauteng against Eastern Province in 2008. Batting in the middle order, he scored four runs in the first innings he batted in, briefly matching his first-class best along with teammate Dane Vilas.

Bavuma made his franchise debut for the Lions in the 2010-11 season. In the Supersport Series that first season he scored 242 runs in four games at an average of 60.50, including a score of 124 not out against the Knights, which made him man of the match. In his second Supersport season in 2011/12 he made 637 runs at an average of 53.08. This was enough for him to take 11th place in the ranking of the best run scorers. In 2012/13 he was the fifth highest scorer in the now renamed Sunfoil Series, although with a worse average of 31.58. In the 2013/14 season he again scored strongly with 714 runs and an average of 39.66, which earned him 6th place in the Sunfoil Series scorers list. He has an unusually high conversion rate of 50 to 100 for his franchise, scoring six 100s and five 50s in Supersport and Sunfoil Series cricket.

These performances have earned him five caps for the South African senior cricket team so far. The first was in July 2012 against Sri Lanka A in Durban. In August of the same year he also played a game against Ireland in the senior team's tour of the country. He did not make a significant contribution in either of these two games. His next appearances for the senior team came in a series of matches played in South Africa between the South African senior team and the Indian and Australian senior teams. He faced Australia once and India twice. His best performance was a 65 in the second game of an innings loss to the Indians. He was included in the Gauteng squad for the 2015 Africa T20 Cup.

In May 2017, Bavuma announced that he would be switching franchises and joining the Cape Cobras ahead of the 2017–18 season. In June 2018, Bavuma was named captain of the Highveld Lions in all formats. In September 2018, he was named in Gauteng's squad for the 2018 Africa T20 Cup.

The following month, he was named in the Durban Heat squad for the inaugural edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament. In September 2019, he was named in the Jozi Stars team's squad for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament. In April 2021, he was called up to the Gauteng squad ahead of the 2021–22 South African cricket season.

In September 2022, Bavuma was not selected by any franchise in the auction for the first edition of the SA20 League.

He was selected by Sunrisers Eastern Cape ahead of the 2023 SA20 League.

International Career

Bavuma made his Test debut for South Africa against the West Indies on 26 December 2014.

On 5 January 2016, Bavuma became the first black cricketer to score a Test century for South Africa. In the second Test of the 2015-16 series against England, he scored an unbeaten 102 in Cape Town.

Bavuma made his One Day International debut for South Africa on 25 September 2016 against Ireland and scored his maiden ODI century. He opened the batting with Quinton de Kock and deputized for Hashim Amla, who was present at the birth of his child. Bavuma was named Man of the Match for his performance and became the second player to score a century on his ODI debut for South Africa.

Bavuma took his first and only Test wicket against Australia on 7 November 2016.

In May 2017, Bavuma won the Award of Excellence at Cricket South Africa's annual awards.

In August 2019, Bavuma was named in the South African Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for the series against India. He made his T20I debut for South Africa on September 18, 2019 against India.

Captaincy, 2021–Present

On 4 March 2021, Bavuma was appointed captain of South Africa's limited-overs team, taking over the captaincy from Quinton de Kock. With his appointment as South Africa's permanent captain, he became the first black African player ever to be appointed permanent captain of the South African team. Bavuma's first series as captain was a home series against Pakistan. He suffered a hamstring injury in the third ODI and hence missed the T20I portion of the series.

On 24 July 2021, against Ireland in the third T20I, Bavuma made his first T20I half, scoring 72 from 51 deliveries before being dismissed by Barry McCarthy. In September, South Africa toured Sri Lanka for three ODIs and three T20Is; In the opening game, he injured his right thumb while batting and retired due to injury. The injury required surgery, but Bavuma recovered sufficiently to captain the South African team at the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in October. South Africa won four of their five games but were eliminated in the group stage due to net run rate.

South Africa toured India for five T20Is in June 2022. South Africa drew the series, but Bavuma suffered an elbow injury in the fourth game and missed South Africa's tour of England later that year. Ahead of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in October and November, sports journalist Katya Witney, writing for Wisden, noted that Bavuma was out of form. She suggested that “what Bavuma brings to the team should not solely depend on his batting stats. His abilities and role as captain should not be overlooked lightly." In a second tour of India this year ahead of the T20 World Cup, Bavuma scored eight runs in four innings in T20Is and ODIs, with the tour cut short due to illness and Bavuma's last missed both ODIs. Bavuma led South Africa in the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

On March 18, 2023, in the second ODI against the West Indies, he scored a career-best 144 runs off 118 balls and crossed the 1000-run mark in ODIs.