JOHANNESBURG: South Africa on Tuesday named Quinton de Kock as their one-day international (ODI) captain as part of a long-term transition plan. His first assignment will be to lead the team in a three-match series against World Cup champions England, starting in Cape Town on February 4. Test and Twenty20 captain Faf du Plessis was not in a 15-man squad named by Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Tuesday despite committing himself to the organisation until the World Cup T20 in October and November. Independent selector Linda Zondi said Du Plessis’ omission did not signal the end of his ODI career. “We decided to rest Faf and Kagiso Rabada for this series because they have both played a lot of cricket,” said Zondi. “A different squad will be picked for a T20 series against England after the one-day games and after that there are still T20s and ODIs against Australia,” she added. Zondi said the appointment of De Kock was part of succession planning leading up to the 2023 Cricket World Cup. In his press conference after the third Test against England on Monday, Du Plessis said there was an opportunity to relieve some of the pressure on his captaincy. De Kock, 27, previously captained South Africa in two one-day internationals and two T20 internationals. Graeme Smith, CSA acting director of cricket, said De Kock was one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the world. Read more: South Africa coach ‘concerned’ over cricket regulations following Rabada ban “He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart,” said Smith. “We are confident that the new leadership role will bring out the best in him as a cricketer and that he can take the team forward into the future and produce results that South Africans the world over can be very proud of.” The South African squad includes new ODI caps in batsmen Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne, all-rounder Jon-Jon Smuts, fast bowlers Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin. Of these, Magala and Verreynne have yet to play at an international level. South Africa squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Sisanda Magala, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Jon-Jon Smuts, Rassie van der Dussen, and Kyle Verreynne.