Last Updated on 9 months ago by Charbel Coorey

“I won’t be doing that”: Quinton de Kock | Quinton de Kock says that he doesn’t want the role of South Africa Test captain on a long-term basis

Quinton de Kock admits to being relevant in taking up the role of captaincy in long formats. In a recent interaction, the South African star player said that obviously he was not ready to accept the roles of a captain for the upcoming Test matches but understanding the demands of the team he had to bend his knee.

“When they (the selectors) told me the situation that we were in, I understood where they were coming from. 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”, de Kock said, from the team’s biosecure bubble at the Irene Country Club in Centurion.

South Africa is set to play seven Test matches this summer before they start indulging in T20 cricket for the World Cup. The Test games are against Srilanka, Pakistan, and Australia which puts de Kock in charge of the team for 16 matches this season including shorter format games as well.

“I am going to keep wicket. I wasn’t going to keep in the ODIs against England. 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,” he said. “But in Test cricket, I need to be there as keeper”, he said.

The lower order of SA team is a matter of concern and with additional work load, de Kock can either add runs to the scoreboard or he does the repair work as a captain is something to look forward. “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 for this season – for the new guys to come in and start scoring runs and putting up their hands,” he said.

Written by Anjali Jha. Follow Anjali on Twitter today.