“The interests of the team must always outweigh the interests of any individual, including me”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
In a rather surprising move, AB de Villiers has resigned as South Africa’s Test captain and has endorsed his team-mate and long-time friend Faf du Plessis to continue leading the Proteas in the longest format.
Furthermore, De Villiers has been ruled out of the upcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka as he has yet to make a sufficient recovery after undergoing elbow surgery in October.
There had been a lot of speculation about the future of South Africa’s Test captaincy as the national team were flourishing under the leadership of Du Plessis.
Du Plessis was named interim captain after De Villiers sustained an elbow injury that led him to being ruled out of the home series against New Zealand in August. South Africa won that series 1-0, but De Villiers was forced to undergo surgery and was subsequently ruled out of the recent three-Test tour of Australia, which the Proteas won 2-1.
Despite all the success South Africa were having, Du Plessis made it clear that he had no issue becoming vice-captain again when De Villiers returned as he was “100% behind” the Bela-Bela native.
De Villiers suceeded Hashim Amla as captain in January, but failed to lead his country in a single game due to his elbow injury.
“The interests of the team must always outweigh the interests of any individual, including me,” De Villiers said. “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.”
The 32-year-old has not played any competitive cricket since featuring in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in July, but he was expected to be fit in time for his side’s series against Sri Lanka. Instead, De Villiers will need another three to four weeks to become fully fit and as a result, he is now targeting the ODI series against Sri Lanka in January as a possible date for his comeback.
“AB’s left elbow is much improved but is still regaining the last few degrees of straightening,” South Africa’s team manager Mohammed Moosajee said. “Fitness to play requires full range of elbow movement and this may take another 3-4 weeks to achieve.”