Bavuma will bolster an inexperienced batting line-up, who had three maiden centurions in Bangladesh last month, and a team who are chasing a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

He travelled with the side but was battling the after-effects of the injury, which was sustained during an ODI against Ireland on October 4. Bavuma has not played any competitive cricket since then. He has also not played any red-ball cricket since Tests against West Indies in August, but Conrad is confident Bavuma will be ready for the upcoming challenges.

"He's probably going in cold in the back of not having played any matches but we're certainly going to be simulating match situations during our short camp we're going to have in Pretoria," Conrad said. "His fitness test was always going to be yesterday (Monday, November 18) and then it would just be too close to a four-day match and too close to the Test match (for him to play a game). If we had asked him to or forced him to play last week, I think it could have been detrimental. And I don't think there was anything to gain from that."

Instead, Bavuma underwent an extensive assessment which included batting for 90 minutes on Monday to determine whether his left elbow had sufficiently recovered from an awkward land when completing a run against Ireland. It is the same elbow that Bavuma injured in 2022.

Equally, Conrad said Bavuma is looking forward to leading a side he has only captained five times out of 10 possible opportunities since being named Test captain in March 2023. "He's excited," Conrad said. "He's like a little kid in a toy shop at the moment because he hasn't played Test cricket in a while."

There was some concern around Coetzee, who left the field during the fourth T20I against India, with what looked like a hamstring concern but returned to bowl later in the game. He has cleared the scans.

"But we certainly know that if we play anything close to our ability, that we'll be right there when it matters. It's an exciting time for the Test side."

The two-Test series begins in Durban on November 27 before the teams move to Gqeberha for the second Test starting December 5.

South Africa squad for Test series against Sri Lanka

Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Dane Paterson, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton and Kyle Verreynne