AB de Villiers to lead South Africa in pink-ball Test against Zimbabwe

An ankle injury kept de Villiers out of the series against New Zealand last year, Australia in November and Sri Lanka at the end of last year. The right-handed batsman also missed the Test leg of the tours of New Zealand and England due to a self-imposed sabbatical from the longest format of the game. He was widely expected to retire from the game completely but in August, he recommitted across all formats. However, since his sabbatical, du Plessis has been at the helm of the South African Test team before a back and shoulder injury occurred to him. 

Du Plessis, on the other hand, gave himself only a 60% chance of recovering in time for the historic four-day Test series. His recovery showed steady progress until recently when he picked up a respiratory tract infection which hampered his recovery schedule. 

Speaking of du Plessis’ injury, Dr. Mohammed Moosajee, South African team manager said, "Faf developed a respiratory tract infection which delayed his recovery this week and subsequently made it difficult for him to make a full recovery in time for the match. He will continue to receive treatment and rehab from our physiotherapist, Craig Govender, and we are hopeful he will recover in time to lead the team for the first Test match against India starting in Cape Town on January 5th."