Du Plessis’ time as South Africa’s Test and ODI captain will come to an end once De Villiers returns

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

South Africa’s selection convenor Linda Zondi has made it clear that AB de Villiers will continue captaining the country in Tests and ODIs despite the success the Proteas have had under stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis.

Du Plessis took over on a temporary basis during the Test series against New Zealand in August as De Villiers was ruled out with an elbow injury, and South Africa won 1-0.

After that, South Africa took on Australia in a five-match ODI series on home soil and went on to whitewash them 5-0.

De Villiers was also ruled out of the ongoing tour of Australia as he underwent surgery on his elbow, but his absence has not affected the Proteas as they already hold an unassailable 2-0 lead going into the third and final Test in Adelaide as they triumphed by 177 runs in Perth and by an innings and 80 runs in Hobart.

Even though South Africa have established their dominance under Du Plessis, Zondi reiterated that De Villiers will be handed the reins once he returns.

“We’re happy with Faf as our current stand-in,” Zondi said. “(But) at the moment that’s our position – AB is still the captain.”

Du Plessis seems a lot more comfortable at the helm than De Villiers or Hashim Amla, who was captain from mid-2014 until January this year, but despite this, Zondi has no intention of deviating from the plan to hand back the Test captaincy to De Villiers when he makes his comeback.

“We will cross that bridge when we get there,” Zondi said. “Faf has done a very good job. It was an easy process for us when the decision was made because he was already the T20 captain. So it was a continuation.

“We are excited to have him as a leader. It just gives us more options. And we have other guys – Hashim Amla also brings experience.”