In a bid to strengthen their squad, Cricket South Africa have named separate captains for the Test format and limited-overs format. Quinton de Kock who was earlier appointed as their full-time captain on a temporary basis has been relieved of the post from all three formats of the game.
With this recent development, opener Dean Elgar and middle-order batsman Temba Bavuma have been entrusted with the captaincy in the Test and limited-overs format respectively. The same has been confirmed by the CSA’s Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith.
“We as CSA are pleased with the appointments of Temba and Dean and believe that we have the men who will lead the Proteas back to their winning ways of old. The pair bring the required stability in both leadership and form to turn the ship in the direction that will eventually bring trophies back to the cabinets,” said Graeme Smith.
Smith also believes that Quinton will have a role to play in the leadership group even though he was relieved from the post. De Kock has captained South Africa in a total of 23 matches across formats in which South Africa had won 9 and lost 13 (and one game was abandoned). This is considered a good performance as a captain taking into account the retirements of their experienced players during the same time.
“We are grateful to Quinton for the work he has put in as captain of the team in the limited-overs formats and are indebted to him for stepping up while the National Selection Panel continued its search for the Test captain. We expect him to still play an integral role in the team’s leadership group,” added Smith.
As far as the captaincy is concerned, Bavuma is yet to lead South Africa at the International level whereas Elgar had led them in 2 Test matches (1 win, 1 defeat) thus far. As per this new appointment, Bavuma will captain South Africa in limited-overs side until the ODI World Cup in 2023 while Elgar will captain their Test side for the entire next ICC World Test Championship cycle.
As per the current International schedule, South Africa are scheduled to play a 3-match ODI series followed by a 4-match T20I series against Pakistan at home in April. One would get to see Bavuma in the lead role during this series. A new role always poses unforeseen challenges and let us all wish Bavuma and Elgar all the very best in these new positions.
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