South Africa’s wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has been named the national team’s captain for the upcoming 3-match ODI series against England. De Kock will be replacing Faf du Plessis as the new captain, who has been dropped from the ODI leg of England’s tour.
Faf du Plessis’ captainship had raised some eyebrows in the longest format of the game where South Africa lost 7 out of their last 8 Test matches. Faf du Plessis led his side in a total of 39 ODIs out of 143 matches he played. Du Plessis also scored a total of 5507 runs with an average of 47.47 in ODIs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock has played 115 ODI matches so far since his debut in January 2013. He carries an average of 45.01 with more than 4900 runs.
ALSO READ: England wins the 3rd Test by an innings and 53 runs
5 players have received a maiden call-up from South African selectors. Lutho Sipamla, Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala, Janneman Malan, and Kyle Verreynne are the new names added to South Africa’s ODI squad.
CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith said about de Kock’s appointment as the new ODI captain on January 21: “We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become. Over the years, we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicket-keeper batsmen in the world. He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart.
“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. We wish him the very best in this new role and look forward to watching him make his mark in this series against the World Cup Champions.”
South Africa squad:
Quinton de Kock (C), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne
