De Kock, Duminy to lead SA in du Plessis’s absence

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy were on Tuesday announced as respective stand-in captains for the remainder of South Africa’s One-day International series and one-off T20 International against Sri Lanka.

De Kock will take the reins for the last two ODIs taking place in Kandy and Colombo, while Duminy will lead the tour-closing T20I in Colombo.Regular skipper Faf du Plessis was ruled out after injuring his shoulder attempting a catch during the third ODI against Sri Lanka.

It was later confirmed by team manager Mohammed Moosajee that du Plessis had injured one of the rotator cuffs in his shoulder and would need up to six weeks of rehabilitation before his return to action, thus missing the remainder of the matches on the tour.

His stand-in replacement for the ODIs, de Kock, is yet to captain South Africa in any format, but did lead South Africa U19 in 2012.South Africa head coach Ottis Gibson is confident that the wicket-keeper’s attributes will suit the role of captain, and highlighted the importance of developing leaders within the squad.

“I have always found Quinton to have a good cricket brain, he understands the game,” Gibson said in Kandy on Tuesday.“With Faf injured, it seems like a good opportunity and chance for him to show that side of his game as a leader for the next two games.”

The absence of the out-of-form Aiden Markram, who has previously stood in for du Plessis, has opened up the slot for de Kock to fill.“It is about trying to grow the team and growing the leaders within the team,” Gibson explained.

“Aiden captained against India and he is not currently in the team, he has had some struggles on this Sri Lanka tour so far. We thought we would have a look at Quinton for the next two games, which will give Aiden time to settle himself.”

Switching attention to the solitary T20I match, Duminy has experience of skippering the Proteas before, having captained the T20I team in du Plessis’ absence during the three-match series against India at home earlier this season. He returns to lead the group for the one-off match on August 14.

“For the last while when Faf was rested or injured JP has been the T20 captain,” Gibson explained. “He has done a good job with that, leadership in the T20 format has brought the best out of him so that is something we will continue with.”

The Proteas have an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series, and have turned their tour around after the disappointing 2-0 loss in the Test series.De Kock says he is excited for this next chapter and will aim to continue with the legacy introduced by Du Plessis.

“To be honest, I am feeling quite nervous, it is an honour to be given this responsibility of captaining the Proteas,” he said.“I want to carry on where Faf has left off and to continue with his legacy. As a captain, I will try to stay true to myself and stay true to what I believe it takes to be a good leader.”South Africa play Sri Lanka in the fourth One-day International on Wednesday (today).