De Villiers was handed the captaincy following Hashim Amla’s decision to stand down after the drawn second Test against England overnight.

“I’ve said this before that it is an incredible honour to captain South Africa in any format. The captaincy has obviously come at short notice and is the realisation of a lifelong dream,” De Villiers, already South Africa’s one-day international captain, said in a statement.

De Villiers, who turns 32 next month, will lead South Africa into the remaining two Tests against England, starting next week in Johannesburg, and is favourite to get the job long-term, coach Russell Domingo said.

That, however, will only rekindle the debate over the workload on one of the world’s most talented batsmen, who plays an important role for his country in all formats of the game.

I kind of felt someone else could do a better job

De Villiers was last week forced to deny newspaper reports he was ready to quit the Test arena to better balance time with his young family and cricketing commitments, which also include playing in the IPL.

He played as wicketkeeper in the first Test against England in Durban, which South Africa lost by 241 runs, in order to allow the selectors to pick an extra batsmen but after a poor performance he quickly gave back the gloves.

Cricket South Africa said it would look at ways to give him time off but have now thrust a new responsibility on to his shoulders.

“At the moment my priority and focus is placed on leading this team to what can be a memorable series win against England,” De Villiers said.

“This Test squad is motivated and determined to turn our performances around and I’m looking forward to taking up that challenge as captain. Hashim is a good friend and close colleague and I am grateful for his support.”

Amla sprung a surprise with his decision, which came just one day after he scored 201 to help drag his team back from the cusp of losing a second successive Test to England.

The 32-year-old made the announcement just minutes after bad light at Newlands saw the match end with honours even and after Amla led a fightback to haul his team from a precarious position after England clocked up a huge score of 6-629dec.

England leads the series 1-0 with two tests remaining.

“Naturally this decision is not an easy one but the more I think about it the more I believe I can be of greater value to the Proteas as a fully focused batsman and senior player at this time or rebuilding our team,” Amla said.

“I am deeply grateful and privileged to have been the Test captain and I wish to thank Cricket South Africa for the honour of captaining my country. It was enjoyable and indeed a great learning experience.

“I kind of felt someone else could do a better job. I made my decision two weeks before the first Test against England,” Amla added.

The Durban-born batsman, who made his debut against India in 2004, is a veteran of 90-Tests and has scored over 7,000 runs in the longest format of the game.

“We respect Hashim’s decision and the manner in which he thought about it and then communicated with me,” Cricket South Africa chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat said.

“He still has a huge role to play in shaping the success of our team without the need for a leadership title. He is just that type of a person and we are very fortunate to have him in our stable.”

-Reuters