De Kock named Durban Super Giants' captain for SA20

Quinton de Kock has been named the captain of Durban Super Giants for the inaugural edition of the SA20 competition.

De Kock, 29, is one of South Africa's key players. His left-handedness and aggression at the top of the order make him a sought after commodity in the T20 cricket. Alongside his runs - 8497 at an average of 33 and a strike rate of 138 - de Kock also has experience captaining the national side. He has led them in four Tests, eight ODIs and 11 T20Is. De Kock is also on the books of the Lucknow Super Giants, the IPL team that shares the same owners as this Durban team.

In December 2021, de Kock retired from Test cricket, citing the difficulty to play all three formats.

De Kock had a highly successful IPL in 2022 - 508 runs at a strike rate of nearly 150 - and followed it up with a good CPL as well - 221 runs at a strike rate of nearly 130. But his returns slipped in the Hundred in England and his most recent assignment - the men's T20 World Cup - didn't go according to plan either. South Africa were eliminated at the group stage of the tournament after defeat to the Netherlands.

While the Test players are preparing for a tour of Australia in December, de Kock will be free to plot his SA20 campaign. At Durban, he will have Keshav Maharaj, Jason Holder and head coach Lance Klusener to help him take the team forward. Their season begins on January 11 with a game against the franchise that represents de Kock's birth place, the Johannesburg Super Kings.