South Africa's limited-overs skipper Quinton de Kock said he has agreed to lead his country in Test cricket only because the selectors are still identifying a right candidate for the long-term, revealing he has taken the job temporarily.
With home fixtures against Sri Lanka and Australia placed either side of a tour of Pakistan in the coming months, Cricket South Africa (CSA) earlier in December named wicketkeeper batsman De Kock as the new Test skipper.
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The development came several months after CSA's director of cricket Graeme Smith had ruled out the possibility of De Kock being in contention for Test captaincy, keeping in mind his workload.
"When they (the selectors) told me the situation that we were in, I understood where they were coming from. Obviously, I didn’t accept it immediately," De Kock told reporters, as quoted by PTI. “I did think about it and I understood, it’s just for now. For this season. It’s not a long-term thing."
"It’s just (till) when we get someone who really puts up their hand, they will take over. The guys are looking for a long-term leadership role. I won’t be doing that. There does seem a lot on my plate but I am quite happy to do it for now," he added.
Proteas host the Lankans for a two-match Test series which starts on the Boxing Day (December 26) and then travel to Pakistan for two more World Test Championship fixtures and 3 T20Is, followed by three Tests on home shores versus the Australians. De Kock hinted, with his workload increasing, someone else may don the gloves in ODIs.
"I am going to keep wickets. I wasn’t going to keep in the ODIs against England," De Kock said. “We were going to give someone else a chance and now that I am looking after the Test team, we are looking at ways to get a lot of things off my shoulders. But in Test cricket, I need to be there as keeper."
"We’ve got a young team. We need our younger guys to come through and learn fast so we can have a structured team. That’s what I would hope for this season - for the new guys to come in and start scoring runs and putting up their hands."
De Kock is also hoping for no health issues to put a scare on the rest of the season after the ODI series versus England had to be postponed due to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases. The 28-year-old said players are very much aware of their responsibilities in these difficult times.
"We have got that little bit of responsibility, but it’s nothing that we can’t handle. It’s just a small part we can help out in ensuring our future tours go ahead in Covid-19 times. We do the bit we can to make sure our bubble is safe," he said.
