De Villiers named South Africa's full-time Test skipper

AB de Villiers has been appointed as the South Africa's Test captain on a permanent basis after the national selectors unanimously decided to choose the swashbuckling batsman to lead the nation through a transitional phase.

The 31-year-old, who took over as the stand-in captain for the last two Tests against the just-concluded series against England, will lead his side in his first assignment against New Zealand in August in South Africa.

An elated De Villiers said that he was honoured to have been asked to captain the Test team into a new era, adding that he was excited to take on this new challenge, Sport24 reported.

The flamboyant batsman, who also leads his side in the ODI format, further said that there remains plenty of hard work ahead of them as they are rebuilding and that they have a long way to go to being a finished product as a squad.

Image: South Africa's AB de Villiers

Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images