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Proteas name squad for remaining Tests, ODIs against England

However, the team will be led by AB de Villiers after Hashim Amla resigned from Test captaincy following the draw in the second Test at Newlands.

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South Africa ODI squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn.

South Africa will be without Vernon Philander for the rest of the series with an ankle injury while team manager Dr Mohammad Moosajee said senior paceman Dale Steyn was “pretty much 50-50” for the third Test in Johannesburg having been ruled out in Cape Town with a shoulder strain.

It might be tempting for England, who lead the series 1-0, to see Amla’s return to the ranks as a sign of trouble in the home dressing room but Bayliss does not subscribe to that.

“If I think of his performances over the previous year, people can say what they want to, he’s still averaging 45 as captain”, he said. Under Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series in 2015, the test series was won by India. But as Barry Richards said, South Africa needed Amla to score.

As captain, Amla scored 894 runs in 20 innings at 49.66, including three centuries, with 208 against West Indies in the 2014 Centurion Test being the highest. “The captaincy has obviously come at short notice and is the realisation of a lifelong dream”, de Villiers said. His current priority was to lead the team to a memorable series win against England.

The tourists lost six wickets in two sessions, starting with the exit of captain Alastair Cook in the second over of the day. However, he came under pressure after a lean run of recent results for the top-ranked team, and relative struggles with his own form.

“It’s always sad when someone steps down because to captain your country is a huge honour and a real privilege”.

Proteas coach Russell Domingo also said that De Villiers is the front runner for the job in the longer run. “He is just that type of a person and we are very fortunate to have him in our stable”, Lorgat added.

But Moeen showed a solid bat to the Proteas attack on a final day which was more tense than had been anticipated after both sides had topped 600 in their first innings.

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“I will continue to give my all to the team”.

Hashim Amla raises his bat as he celebrates scoring a doube century during day 4 of the second Test match between England and South Africa at Newlands stadium