South Africa’s dashing wicket-keeper batsman, Quinton de Kock, has been appointed the skipper of the Proteas’ ODI team for the upcoming three-match ODI series versus England. He has succeeded Faf du Plessis in the position who has been left out of the 15-man squad.

Five uncapped players who have also been called up into the national squad are: Bjorn Fortuin, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne, Lutho Sipamla, and Sisanda Magala. All of these players are coming off stellar domestic Cricket seasons. 

One of the mainstays of South African Cricket and someone who averaged over 67 in ODIs in 2019, du Plessis has not been considered for the series. His Test captaincy has been under the scanner for quite a while and now the ODI leadership band has also been scrapped off his arm. This is South Africa’s first ODI assignment since their catastrophic campaign in the World Cup and they would want to get off a fresh start under new leadership. 

Speaking about Quinton’s appointment as the captain, the former legendary South African skipper and the current Acting Director of Cricket at the CSA, Graeme Smith feels that Quinton has it in him to fulfill the responsibility that he has been allotted. 

"We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become. Over the years, we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicket-keeper batsmen in the world. He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart.”

“We are confident that the new leadership role will bring out the best in him as a cricketer and that he can take the team forward into the future and produce results that South Africans the world over can be very proud of. We wish him the very best in this new role and look forward to watching him make his mark in this series against the World Cup Champions."

The ODI series against England commences from the 4th of February.

South Africa’s ODI Squad: Quinton de Kock (c), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne