AB gets the nod to lead T20 side
CRICKET South Africa offered their own answer to questions over AB de Villiers’ captaincy ability yesterday when they named him to lead the national team in the T20 series against England.
De Villiers presided over South Africa’s 2-1 one-day series loss against England and their disastrous Champions Trophy campaign in which they failed to reach the knockout stage.
Despite that, De Villiers was named as T20 captain in the absence of regular skipper Faf du Plessis‚ who will return home to be with his wife Imari for the birth of the couple’s first child.
Under the circumstances the selectors might have been tempted to retain Farhaan Behardien at the T20 helm‚ even though he led South Africa to defeat in a series against Sri Lanka in January. Perhaps that was considered.
“I would like to thank Farhaan Behardien for leading the side so ably in the recent series against Sri Lanka‚” convener Linda Zondi was quoted as saying in a CSA release.
“We are indeed fortunate in the quality of our team leaders and Farhaan remains very much part of this group.”
Hashim Amla‚ Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy have been rested for what promised to be the most forgettable segment of South Africa’s summer in England‚ which culminates in next month’s test series.
The only uncapped player in terms of the format named in the squad was Dwayne Pretorius.
The first of the three matches will be played in Southampton next Wednesday.
South Africa T20 squad:
AB de Villiers (captain)‚ Farhaan Behardien‚ Reeza Hendricks‚ Imran Tahir‚ David Miller‚ Morne Morkel‚ Chris Morris‚ Mangaliso Mosehle‚ Wayne Parnell‚ Dane Paterson‚ Andile Phehlukwayo‚ Dwaine Pretorius‚ Tabraiz Shamsi‚ Jon-Jon Smuts.