Ray Jennings acknowledges http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 as right to lead South Africa
Former Proteas coach, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Allan-Robert-Border-c43726 de Villiers as the national limited-over skipper.
While http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473 retained his position as Test skipper, the governing body of South African cricket recently appointment De Villiers as One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 captain.
Jennings has a decent experience of working with new Proteas skipper, as he shouldered his responsibilities as the coach of De Villiers’ Indian Premier League (IPL) outfit, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Jennings heaped special praise on De Villiers for his fantastic commitment in the field during the IPL and said that the wicket-keeper batsman was the best choice to lead ODI side.
"AB is a top quality person. I certainly don't believe that South African cricket made a mistake to appoint him as captain. He is someone who leads by example. He always pitches for training first and does not hesitate to offer young players advice during
the net sessions. He assesses situations quickly and acts accordingly," said Jennings.
After joining the national ODI side in 2005, De Villiers has taken part in 119 ODIs in which he collected 4523 runs at a fabulous average of 45.68. He has also been impressive with his energetic work behind the stumps but is unlikely to continue wicket-keeping
job after becoming the skipper.
The 56-year-old former first-class cricketer, Jennings, explained that it was great to have De Villiers in the RCB line-up as he always kept on motivating his teammates.
"It really was a privilege to have AB in my team. The role he played in the team was of immense value. He was also a pillar of strength for our captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DL-Vettori-c1384, who relied on him a lot on the field," added the RCB coach who has been with the Bangalore
outfit for last three editions.
He rubbished the idea that the extra responsibility of captaincy will affect De Villiers’ work as wicket-keeper. Jennings, meanwhile, hoped that the South African side, under De Villiers’ leadership, will perform well in the upcoming home series against
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, scheduled later this year.
Tags: