Off-spinner Johan Botha named South Africa's Twenty20 captain
South African off-spinner Johan Botha has filled in the Twenty20 captaincy slot left vacant by Graeme Smith. Smith earlier decided to step down from the post. The left-hander, however, will continue to lead the team in the longer versions of the game. He will be Test captain and also lead the One-Day side till the end of 2011 World Cup.
Gerald Majola, the CEO of Cricket South Africa, said that there was not much debate over who would replace Smith. He added that Botha was always the next man in line, and a unanimous decision was taken by all the board members. Majola said that Botha has the temperament to lead the team and is one of the few off-spinners who are suitable to the shortest form of the game. The CEO said that he hoped that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Johan-Botha-c67173 would be able to turn around the fortunes of the South African team and finally win a world title in the 2012 Twenty20 World Cup.
Johan Botha did captain South Africa in the absence of Graeme Smith last year. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and on the limited over leg of the tour, Botha led the team to a 2-1 win. Following that success, the board seems to be convinced that Botha is the man to lead Proteas in T20.
Andrew Hudson, former South African opening batsman, who is also convener of selectors, said that Johan has a good record in leading teams. He said that he has proven that in domestic games, and when he stood in for Smith against Australia, there was enough there to convince all that he may be the man for the job. Hudson said that for now he would only be appointed as the T20 captain; he added that the board is focusing on entirely refreshing the T20 squad. Hudson went on to say that the board will wait for the right time to name the man who would take over Test and ODI captaincy after Smith calls it a day. Hudson added that for now, Smith has a lot of cricket left in him and the board does not have any plans of taking the captaincy away from him, so for now there is no need to find another suitable candidate for captaincy of the other two formats. The former right-handed opener said that in future, South Africa may choose to have separate captains for different formats, or even name one for all 3. He said that all of that is yet to be decided, and to be honest, there is some good amount of time left before it is done.
Johan Both was delighted by the announcement. He said that he had enjoyed his short spell as captain and would love to lead the team in T20s. Botha added that leading the country is a dream come true for him, and he would do all he can to bring the next T20 World Cup trophy home and end the so-called 'trophy curse' on South Africa. He said that he would also love to be considered for the One-Day captaincy, but only when Smith decides to hand it over.
Botha said that before the 2011 World Cup, South Africa has 3 T20 games, and he would make sure that he has a 100% record as captain before the 2012 World Cup.
Johan Botha has played 3 Tests, 57 ODIs and 21 T20s for South Africa, and by far his best record for his country is in T20s with an average of 19.18 and also a bowling strike-rate of 19.
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