Graeme Smith and Victor Mpitsang are fully confident they have made the right decision in their selection of the new Proteas captains.
Cricket South Africa have appointed Dean Elgar as South Africa’s full-time Test captain and Temba Bavuma has been named captain of South Africa’s white-ball teams.
While Elgar will lead the Proteas in the next cycle of the World Test Championship, Bavuma will lead the team in the two T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022, and the fifty-over World Cup in 2023.
“We’re confident that we’ve arrived at the right decision,” said Cricket South Africa’s Director of Cricket, Graeme Smith, in his statement to the media, announcing Elgar and Bavuma as South Africa’s Test and limited-overs captains for the next two years.
“We deliberated long and hard, it was very clear to us that these two men were the right men to take South African cricket forward. We wish them the best.”
Smith explained that the selectors and coaching staff wanted time to be sure before making full-time leadership appointments.
“We’ve been trying to find leaders. We wanted to see who would stand up. Over time, it has become clearer that Dean is the right man to lead the team in the Test arena.” said Smith.
Having gained valuable experience over the last few years, Smith believes this is a perfect opportunity to name Elgar as Test captain. “The time is right, he wants the job.”
With respect to Temba Bavuma, who recently led the Lions to the title in the CSA National T20 tournament, Smith said, “We’ve known about his leadership qualities. We know of his tactical nature from the Lions. The feedback from the management and coaches has been positive.”
The Convenor of Selectors, Victor Mpitsang, was also effusive in his praise of Temba Bavuma, saying, “He always thinks on his feet. His leadership has grown.”
Referring to the “aggressive but smart” brand of cricket Mark Boucher has often talked about, Mpitsang believes Bavuma and Elgar are best suited to lead South African Test and white-ball teams in that direction.
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