AB De Villiers on Monday announced that he will step down as captain of the South African Test team. De Villiers, who had missed the series against Australia, was ruled out of the Proteas’ upcoming three match Test series against Sri Lanka after failing to recover from an elbow injury. Cricket South Africa confirmed that Faf du Plessis has been named as the permanent Test captain.
“The interests of the team must always outweigh the interests of any individual, including me,” said De Villeirs. “It was a fantastic honour for me to be asked to captain the Test side but I have missed two series and I am still in doubt for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. Following the squad’s outstanding performances in Australia, it is clearly in the greater interests of the team that Faf du Plessis should be confirmed as the permanent Test captain”
South African team manager, Dr Mohammed Moosajee said that De Villiers will take another 3-4 weeks to regain full fitness.
Under Du Plessis, South Africa comprehensively defeated Australia in their own backyard. “I have known Faf for almost 20 years, ever since we played in the same school side at Afrikaans Hoer Seunskool, and he will have my unequivocal support if he is asked to continue leading this exciting Proteas Test team,” said De Villiers.
De Villiers had taken over as captain of the South African team in the longest format of the game after Hashim Amla stepped down from the position in. He led the team in two Test matches against England. Since then, he has suffered from a niggling elbow injury that has kept him out of international matches.
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