De Villiers will be handed the reins for the Twenty20 series against England

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

South Africa ODI captain AB de Villiers has been handed the Twenty20 captaincy for the upcoming three-match Twenty20 series against England next week.

De Villiers will be leading the side after it was confirmed that regular skipper Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Kagiso Rabada would all be rested for the series.

Du Plessis will be returning back to South Africa for the birth of his first child, but it expected to be back in England prior to the start of the four-Test series on July 6.

Despite resting five key players, all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius is the only uncapped player in the squad. While Pretorius has not featured in a Twenty20 International, he has represented the Proteas in 10 ODIs to date.

“I would like to thank Farhaan Behardien for leading the side so ably in the recent series against Sri Lanka,” South Africa’s convener of selectors Linda Zondi said. “We are indeed fortunate in the quality of our team leaders and Farhaan remains very much part of this group.

“We have also been impressed as a panel by the quality of players coming through our franchise and South Africa ‘A’ system and we are ready to give further opportunities to Andile Phehlukwayo, Mangaliso Mosehle, Jon-Jon Smuts and Dane Paterson who all made their debuts in the recent series against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, Lungi Ngidi could not be considered because of injury.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the newcomers to play alongside world-class and experienced players like AB, Farhaan, David Miller, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris and Wayne Parnell.”

The three-match Twenty20 series gets underway on June 21 in Southampton.

South Africa’s T20 Squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Mangaliso Mosehle (wk), Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi, JJ Smuts