South Africa coach Mark Boucher on Wednesday said Quinton de Kock will be released from the burden of Test captaincy after the Pakistan tour but there is still time to make that call following Australia's "disappointing and disruptive" decision to postpone their tour of South Africa.
Following the completion of the Pakistan series, South Africa doesn't have any Test cricket coming up in the next nine months after Australia on Tuesday decided to postpone their tour citing "unacceptable health and safety risk" in that country because of a fresh COVID-19 outbreak.
"When we get back after this tour we've got a bit of time before our next Test series so we can sit down and make a good, solid call on who can take over from him and release him from that burden and try and get the best out of him," Boucher said on the eve of the final Test here.
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De Kock, who was handed the Test captaincy on a temporary basis for the 2020-21 summer, hasn't been in good form, scoring just 15 and 2 in the two innings as they suffered a seven-wicket loss in the first Test against Pakistan.
"It's been tough on Quinny. If you're not scoring runs it gets highlighted, especially if you're a captain," Boucher was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo .
"We're not that harsh on Quinny in this environment. We know that he's a quality player and there's a good innings around the corner for him. He has been given the extra burden of being captain and that can be tough and something he's not used to." Australia have received a lot of flak for postponing their tour with former England cricketers Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen questioning their decision."
