Proteas Spinner Keshav Maharaj has presented himself as a candidate for the Proteas Test captaincy. South Africa Cricket coach Graeme Smith had earlier said that Quinton de Kock will only captain the Proteas in limited-overs and this has raised the debate about who the next captain will be.
Temba Bavuma, Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram have been names brought up as the next Test skipper. Maharaj now a regular in the Test setup wants to realise his dream of being captain of the Proteas.
“I really want to captain the Proteas. It’s been a dream. Not many people know that, but those close to me know that I do want to captain the South African team across all three formats,” Maharaj said.
“And I want to raise the World Cup trophy in my hand as the leader of the side.
“Apart from wanting to play for the Proteas as a childhood dream, captaining the team to a World Cup-winning campaign would be everything I have ever dreamed of and my life would be fulfilled from a cricketing perspective.”
The Proteas captaincy became vacant when regular skipper Faf du Plessis left the role in February, after the Series defeat against England in South Africa.
De Kock is being tipped to take over as skipper across all formats as he has been given the captains duties in the short formats since the 2019 tour to India.
The spate of changes that have been seen in the national setup since a terrible World Cup campaign have also seen Maharaj involved in the limited-overs setup once more – this after leading the Dolphins to the One-Day Cup title earlier in the year.
Maharaj says he is thrilled to work under De Kock, who he says leads from the front in his role as captain.
“It’s a different dynamic to when I first debuted in terms of the aggression. It’s exciting,” Maharaj said.
“You’ve got a younger leader and with youth comes a lot of flair.”
The Proteas were due to tour Sri Lanka next month, but the tour was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.