Cape Town - Faf du Plessis will lead the Proteas Test team in the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka pending the outcome of his ICC appeal hearing on December 19 after AB de Villiers resigned as the official Test captain on Monday evening.
De Villiers only led the Proteas in two Test matches after succeeding Hashim Amla in January as injury forced him to miss the subsequent Test series against New Zealand and Australia.
In his injury-enforced absence Du Plessis was appointed stand-in Test captain back in July and the official T20 skipper has been a revelation in the role by leading the Proteas to a 1-0 win over the Kiwis in addition to a historic 2-1 series victory over Australia Down Under last month.
Du Plessis has certainly been the public’s favourite to take on the leadership role on a permanent basis even though Proteas coach Russell Domingo, national convenor of selectors Linda Zondi and Cricket South Africa president Chris Nenzani publicly backed De Villiers to remain at the helm once the star batsman returns from injury.
Senior player Dale Steyn also recently backed De Villiers, with the injured fast bowler saying: "He is definitely the captain. I know Faf has done really well for us right now, but AB is the captain. He has earned that spot."
However, with De Villiers losing his fitness race for the Sri Lankan series as the 32-year-old was officially ruled out of the entire home summer’s Test action yesterday, he believes “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 in a statement on Monday.
“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.”
Zondi, meanwhile, told Independent Media that he applauded De Villiers for “putting the team first” and that “we respect AB’s decision” as “it will definitely assist the team in where the team is at the moment.”
Although the Test captaincy issue has now been sorted out a good two weeks before the Proteas lock horns with Sri Lanka on Boxing Day at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, De Villiers’s unavailability does leave the batting unit in a precarious situation.
Du Plessis’s place is under scrutiny as the skipper is appealing his initial ball-tampering sanction having being fined his entire match fee and being handed three demerit points by the ICC after being caught on camera sucking a sweet and rubbing the ball with his saliva in an alleged attempt to enhance swing during the second Test against Australia in Hobart, which the Proteas won by an innings and 80 runs.
Michael Beloff QC has been appointed the judicial commissioner, and while the legal teams of both parties will attend the hearing in Dubai, Du Plessis is set to join via telephone. Du Plessis stands the risk of having his punishment increased at the hearing by the judicial commissioner, which could ultimately result in a ban for the new official Proteas Test captain.
Such a scenario could leave the Proteas without Du Plessis too for the series opener. This would not be ideal with the reserve batsman on the Australian tour Rilee Rossouw still struggling with a foot injury that saw the him play no part in the Knights T20 Challenge campaign upon return from Down Under.
With Stiaan van Zyl, who played in the last home Test against New Zealand, also ineligible for selection due to the classy left-hander signing a three-year deal to play for English County Championship side Sussex next season the selectors are set to call up the uncapped Knights captain Theunis de Bruyn.
The right-hander had a solid South Africa A limited-overs tour of Australia earlier this year where compiled 217 runs at an average of 54.25. He has continued that good form in the domestic first-class competition as the 24-year-old is currently third on the national run-scorers table with 425 runs at an average of 60.42.