Faf du Plessis takes the captaincy role from AB de Villiers for South Africa’s Twenty20 games.
AB de Villers requested to step down as captain from Twenty20 and the South African board have decided du Plessis is their best candidate. The batsman will take over with immediate effect and his first games in charge will be Twenty20 fixtures against Pakistan in March.
The 28-year-old has led the South African short over side before, filling in for de Villiers for three Twenty20s against New Zealand in December 2012. South Africa won that series 2-1 so du Plessis may be able to fill his new permanent role with some confidence.
“Handing Faf the T20 captaincy is an exciting option for us to explore our leadership resources,” SA coach Gary Kirsten was quoted on Cricbuzz.
“He showed a lot of potential during the series against New Zealand in both T20 and ODI formats and this will be another great opportunity for him to work on his role as a leader.”
With du Plessis taking over as Twenty20 captain, it now means that the Proteas have different captains for all forms of the game. de Villiers remains in charge of the one-day squad, whilst Graeme Smith is the man at the helm of the Test team.
There will several admissions from the Twenty20 squad du Plessis has to pick from next month, as many players are being rested after the Test and ODI matches against Pakistan.
Jacques Kallis, Hasim Amla and Dale Steyn have all been given a break from the Twenty20 series, whilst a hamstring injury to bowler Morne Morkel means he will not be risked. Quinton de Kock has been retained in the squad as wicket-keeper, but de Villiers may be played simply as a batting option.
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