Johannesburg: Quinton de Kock was named Tuesday as South Africa’s ODI captain as part of a long term transition plan. His first assignment will be to lead the team in a three-match series against World Cup champions England, starting February 4 in Cape Town.
Test and Twenty20 captain Faf du Plessis was not in a 15-man squad named by Cricket South Africa (CSA) despite committing himself to the organisation until the World Cup T20 in October and November. Independent selector Linda Zondi said Du Plessis’ omission did not signal the end of his ODI career.
“We decided to rest Faf and Kagiso Rabada for this series because they have both played a lot of cricket,” said Zondi. “A different squad will be picked for a T20 series against England after the one-day games and after that there are still T20s and ODIs against Australia,” he added.
Zondi said the appointment of De Kock was part of succession planning leading up to the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
De Kock, 27, has previously captained South Africa in two ODIs and an equal number of T20 internationals.
Graeme Smith, CSA acting director of cricket, said De Kock was one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the world.
“He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart,” said Smith. “We are confident that the new leadership role will bring out the best in him as a cricketer and that he can take the team forward into the future and produce results that South Africans the world over can be very proud of,” Smith the former South African captain added.
The South African squad have new ODI caps in batsmen Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne, all-rounder Jon-Jon Smuts, fast bowlers Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin. Among these Magala and Verreynne are yet to play at any international level.
South Africa squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Sisanda Magala, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Jon-Jon Smuts, Rassie van der Dussen and Kyle Verreynne.
AFP
