Temba Bavuma was on Friday named the first black African captain of South Africa’s Test team in which category? Cricket South Africa have been described as “part of a restructuring within the leadership group of the national team”.
Dean Elgar was dropped as captain, although he remains a member of the squad that begins the series against the West Indies on 28 February.
Chief selector Victor Mpitsang was another casualty of the shake-up, with CSA saying he had been “relieved” of the role.
Bavuma became the first black African to captain South Africa in cricket when he was named leader of the One Day International and Twenty20 International teams in March 2021.
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At the same time Elgar was made the Test captain.
Elgar’s tenure as captain began with a Test series victory against the West Indies. India and a shared series against Bangladesh and world champions New Zealand.
But they were badly beaten in their recent two series in England and Australia.
Bavuma, meanwhile, came under criticism for his poor batting form in T20 Internationals, especially in T20s. World Cup in Australia last year.
According to Friday’s statement, Bavuma will continue as captain of the ODI team but will relinquish his role in the T20 team.
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The announcement was made by CSA’s director of cricket, Enoch Nkwe, who said a decision has been taken to review the selection system. Mapitsang was relieved of his job.
As an interim measure, the new national team coaches, Shukri Konrad (Tests) and Rob Walter (Limited Overs) will play a leading role in selection.
“Temba is a player with extensive captaincy experience both domestically and internationally,” Nkwe said.
“We are confident he will meet all our expectations and help build on the team following some excellent work by his predecessor Dean during the same period.
“Also I would like to sincerely thank Dean for his commitment to the role over the past two years.
“He helped the team navigate through some stormy waters and got them in good stead on the ICC World Test Championship table.”
Nkwe named a 15-man squad for the two Tests against the West Indies.
Five players who played in the series losses in Australia in December and January – batsmen Sarel Erwi, Rassie van der Dussen and Khaya Jondo, wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and pacer Lungi Ngidi – have been dropped, while Theunis de Bruyne has retired .
Uncapped Tony Di Zorzi is likely to make his debut as an opener, while Keegan Pietersen and Ryan Rickelton will return after missing the tour of Australia due to injury.
Batsman Aiden Markram and all-rounder Viaan Mulder are remembered as is all-rounder Senuran Muthusamy, whose only two Tests in 2019 were in India.
Rickelton’s omission from the Australia tour led to criticism from Mpitsang, who said he was dropped because of concerns over an ankle injury despite the player being fit – and then scoring heavily in domestic cricket during the tour.
South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Tony De Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Viaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Anrich Nortje, Keegan Pietersen. Shanti Rabada, Ryan Rickelton.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)