JP Duminy has been named the skipper of Cape Cobras ahead of their opening match against Dolphins on Sunday in Centurion in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge. JP Duminy has been a great limited overs batsman for South Africa and plays for various franchises around the globe in different T20 leagues. His knowledge and experience of the T20 format will help the Cobras in the upcoming T20 tournament.
The Cobras were led by Dane Piedt over the past few months in the Sunfoil Series, but former South African batsman Ashwell Prince has gone the experience of Duminy who has led the national side and Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.
Their coach Prince said:
“JP’s numbers speak for themselves. I don’t need to add much. JP is the most successful South African batsman in this format. He is one of the best T20 batsmen in the world.”
The 33-year-old Duminy retired from Test cricket earlier this year to focus on Test cricket and prolong his international cricket and be a part of the national side in the 2019 cricket World Cup in England. Duminy will lead a team which has the mix of international experience of players like Hashim Amla‚ Temba Bavuma‚ Vernon Philander and Dane Paterson on one hand and the domestic and T20 experience of Richard Levi‚ Dane Piedt‚ Justin Ontong‚ Jason Smith‚ Andrew Puttick‚ Aviwe Mgijima‚ Stiaan Van Zyl‚ Tshepo Moreki and Qaasim Adams.
The tournament begins on Friday with the first match between the Warriors and the Knights at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth.
Cobras swashbuckling opener Richard Levi said that the mix of youth and experience would give the team an outside chance:
“We have a point to prove‚ I will never be able to play as many shots as an AB de Villiers. But it is also about not blocking off yourself and allowing yourself to access different sides of the field.”