I am actually quite nervous about leading the Cobras, says Duminy
WHEN Proteas all-rounder JP Duminy hung up his Test whites mid-way through this year, the common belief was that he would seek further fortunes off-shore.
Although opting for the Kolpak route would have been out of the immediate equation as Duminy still harbours ambitions of playing in a third World Cup in England in 2019, the 33-year-old is a highly-sought after T20 commodity.
The classy left-hander has close to a decade’s worth of Indian Premier League experience, which includes the honour of captaining the Delhi Daredevils. He is also South Africa’s highest run-scorer in the shortest format with 1700 runs from 73 matches at an average of 36.95.
Such an impressive CV would naturally attract lucrative suitors from overseas leagues such as the Bangladesh Premier League as well as Australia’s Big Bash.
But instead of negotiating his way out of his Cricket South Africa contract to seek riches elsewhere, Duminy is committed to not only the national’s team cause but also his home franchise, the Cape Cobras.
Upon hearing that Duminy was available to the Cobras for all white-ball cricket this summer, coach Ashwell Prince declared it a “no brainer” in handing the leadership reins to his former national, provincial and club teammate for this season’s T20 Challenge. “JP’s numbers speak for themselves. I don’t need to add much. JP is the most successful South African batsman in this format. He is one of the best T20 batsmen in the world,” Prince said about Duminy’s appointment.
Although regular skipper Dane Piedt has performed admirably under often trying circumstances over the past eight months, it only seems logical to have Duminy at the helm. He recently led the Proteas to a T20 series cleansweep over Bangladesh, while the Cape Town Knight Riders also entrusted Duminy with the captaincy for the inaugural Global T20 League.
But with the GLT20 postponed until next year, Duminy believes this new challenge has come at just the right time.
“I was really excited to lead the Knight Riders and building a new brand in Cape Town, but that has to wait for a little while now and it was quite disappointing.
“However, growing up in Cape Town, playing my first game for Western Province when I was still at school, I never thought I would captain the Cobras. It wasn’t in my make-up at the time. But having now learnt from great leaders – not just cricket captains – as I have grown older has really got me excited about leading the team I grew up with. I am actually quite nervous,” Duminy chirped.
Duminy believes leading the Cobras will be similar to when he is in charge of the Daredevils in the IPL, which is in stark contrast to leading the Proteas. “It is going to be different to the leading the Proteas and more like in the IPL. In the national team most players know their games and what they need to do, but in franchise cricket there are quite a number of young players that often need guidance, so that’s always an exciting challenge,” he explained.
The Cobras skipper will at least, though, be able to rely on the experience and class of his fellow Proteas Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Vernon Philander and Dane Paterson alongside him for the first match of the T20 Challenge double-header against the Dolphins at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Sunday.