Quinton de Kock has been named South Africa's Test captain for the 2020/21 season. de Kock, who already leads the ODI and T20I squads, will only be in the role temporarily with a permanent appointee to be finalised in the coming months.
His appointment was announced on Friday, and comes eight months after Graeme Smith, South Africa's director of cricket, said de Kock wouldn't be made the Test captain so that he could "remain fresh", given his already large basket of responsibilities. However, given the relatively lighter Test schedule in store for South Africa, the selection committee felt de Kock could handle the role.
South Africa are due to play seven Tests this summer, two against Sri Lanka, two in Pakistan and three against Australia.
"Quinton is happy to continue in the role for the next season and is comfortable with the balance of the workload and we back him fully as a captain," convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang said. "We are also pleased with the leadership group in the team and are cultivating a strong individual leadership culture at the same time, so that the team produces a sustainable stream of potential captains for the future."
South Africa also named a 15-man squad to face Sri Lanka which includes maiden call-ups for opening batsman Sarel Erwee, wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne and medium-pacer Glenton Stuurman. Kagiso Rabada and Dwaine Pretorius, who picked up a groin and hamstring injury respectively during the recent white-ball series against England, have not been considered for selection at this stage. They will be assessed in the coming days to determine if they could be added to the squad.
Squad for Sri Lanka Tests: Quinton de Kock (capt, wk), Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Beuran Hendricks, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Rassie van der Dussen, Sarel Erwee, Anrich Nortje, Glenton Stuurman, Wiaan Mulder, Keegan Petersen, Kyle Verreynne.
More to follow
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent