AB de Villiers steps down as captain of South Africa Test team

AB de Villiers has stepped down as captain of the South Africa Test team with immediate effect while he has backed Faf du Plessis to take over the role on a permanent basis. Cricket South Africa (CSA) later confirmed du Plessis’s appointment as Test captain.

De Villiers, who took over the role in January after Hashim Amla stepped down, led the team in two Tests against England. However, an elbow injury forced him to miss the tours of New Zealand and Australia while he has also been ruled out of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka that starts on December 26.

“The interests of the team must always outweigh the interests of any individual, including me. 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,” de Villiers said on Monday (December 12).

“I have known Faf for almost 20 years, ever since we played in the same school side at Afrikaans Hoer Seunskool, and he will have my unequivocal support if he is asked to continue leading this exciting Proteas Test team,” he added.

CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat, who respected de Villiers’s decision, announced that du Plessis will take over as captain of the Test team. “AB has always carried himself as a true team player and his decision to step down confirms his attitude to put the team first, said Lorgat. It is no surprise that the CSA Board has confirmed Faf du Plessis as the Test captain to take over from AB.”

“AB’s left elbow is much improved but is still regaining the last few degrees of straightening. Fitness to play requires full range of elbow movement and this may take another 3-4 weeks to achieve. He will be unavailable for the Test series against Sri Lanka and will target a return for the ODI series starting at the end of January,” Moosajee said.

Meanwhile, South Africa may have to do without the services of du Plessis for the first Test against Sri Lanka if the outcome of his appeal against the ball-tampering verdict does not turn out in his favour. Du Plessis was fined 100 percent of his match fee but escaped suspension after he was found to be in breach of the ICC Code of Conduct for changing the condition of the ball during the Hobart Test. Du Plessis, who was uncertain about what constitutes an “artificial substance” in ICC’s rule book, and after support from CSA, filed the appeal, leaving ICC CEO David Richardson “disappointed.”