Quinton de Kock has been named as the captain of the South African Test team for the 2020/2021 season. The wicketkeeper-batsman is already Proteas' white-ball captain. (More Cricket News)
While announcing the squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Friday said that the 27-year-old's "appointment for this season is motivated by the light Test cricket load on this season, with the Proteas only playing three series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia respectively."
Earlier, director of cricket Graeme Smith had said that de Kock had enough on his plate as their ODI and T20I teams.
South Africa will play two Test matches against the visiting Sri Lanka over the traditional Boxing Day and the New Year’s windows. The fixtures will form part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
"The National Selection Panel led by Convenor of Selectors, Victor Mpitsang, is confident of De Kock’s leadership capabilities and the leadership he has shown so far and will spend the next few months finalizing the appointment of the player who will take on the permanent role," CSA added in the statement.
Sarel Erwee, Glenton Stuurman and Kyle Verreynne have received maiden Test call-ups, while the former South Africa under-19s captain, Wiaan Mulder, makes a return to the national team after a period of prolonged injury layoff.
But Kagiso Rabada and Dwaine Pretorius are not yet fit enough as a result of injuries picked up during the short-lived England tour. The selectors will go through assessments in the next few days to see whether they will be fit enough to be added to the squad ahead of the second match. An update will be provided next week, said CSA.
So, Lungi Ngidi will lead the pace attack with Anrich Nortje and Beuran Hendricks, who both impressed last summer against England. Ngidi missed out on Test cricket last season because of injury.
Sri Lanka made history in February 2019, when they became the first Asian team to win a Test series in South Africa after emphatically beating the hosts 2-0. They are currently in fifth place on WTC the points table with 27 matches played and South Africa is sixth with 23 matches played.
South Africa Test Squad:
Quinton de Kock (captain, Momentum Multiply Titans), Temba Bavuma (Imperial Lions), Aiden Markram (Momentum Multiply Titans), Faf du Plessis (Momentum Multiply Titans), Beuran Hendricks (Imperial Lions), Dean Elgar (Momentum Multiply Titans), Keshav Maharaj (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Lungi Ngidi (Momentum Multiply Titans), Rassie van der Dussen (Imperial Lions), Sarel Erwee (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Anrich Nortje (Warriors), Glenton Stuurman (Warriors), Wiaan Mulder (Imperial Lions), Keegan Petersen (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Kyle Verreynne (Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras).
Schedule:
1st Test: 26-30 December, 2020 at SuperSport Park, Centurion. Match starts at 10:00 SAST.
2nd Test: 03-07 January 2021 Imperial Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Match starts at 10:00 SAST.
