Dale Steyn backs AB de Villiers to return as a captain

One of the greatest fast bowlers of the modern generation Dale Steyn has joined hands with South Africa’s convenor of selectors Linda Zondi to endorse AB de Villiers as South Africa’s permanent Test captain and wants him back at the post once is fit and raring to go. Speaking at an exhibition match between the South African cricket and the rugby teams at Newlands, Steyn said, “I think so, he is the captain. He is definitely the captain,”

“I know Faf has done really well for us right now, but AB is the captain. He has earned that spot. He has played for a long time, and he said he wants to do it and he got the opportunity to. Unfortunately, he got injured, but he is the man at the end of the day.”

De Villiers was named South Africa’s Test captain in February after Hashim Amla resigned from the post midway through the home series against England. He suffered a serious elbow injury that required surgery which kept the star batsman out of the home Test series against New Zealand in August and the recent series win in Australia.

Mr.360. is expected to get fit for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka which starts on the Boxing Day. Former Proteas captain Graeme Smith felt that de Villiers should focus more on getting match fit rather than thinking about the captaincy quandary. The swashbuckling batsman has had only one net session so far and is yet to get any match time.

“The most important thing for AB now is just to focus on getting back and fit and playing cricket. I don’t think he should even engage in thinking about that (the captaincy) because he can’t captain from the sidelines,” Smith said. “Having had an elbow injury, it’s not an easy thing to recover from. It takes time, getting those tendons strong and all those muscles. That’s your primary arm that you use when you bat. He should focus on that. The sooner we can get him playing cricket for South Africa, the better.”

Smith stated that it was difficult to captain the nation in all three formats as T20s could create the space required for managing the workload an ODI or Test captain. “It’s very difficult to captain all three formats, and the T20 format is a difficult one because you don’t play a huge amount of cricket. So is that the right time to rest your captain, with the workloads he is going to have in one-day and Test cricket?” Smith asked.

Steyn who is still recuperating from a broken shoulder agreed that whenever de Villiers returns he must lead the side without a doubt. “When AB steps back into the side, there should be almost no question about it. I know there have been eyebrows raised because Faf has done well, but there should never be any question about who the real captain is or who the captain is, and he should just step back into it and continue what Faf has already started.”