Jagath Perera
If captaincy is partly about contrasts, you would struggle to find a pair of captains with as starkly contrasting stories as Quinton de Kock and Dimuth Karunaratne after the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Centurion on Tuesday (December 29).
De Kock had the Test leadership thrust upon him despite his and Graeme Smith’s assurances that the captaincy of South Africa’s white-ball sides, on top of his heavy workload as the wicketkeeper and a key batter, was someone else’s job in the wake of Faf du Plessis stepping down in February. Not only was the Centurion match De Kock’s first as a Test captain, it is the only time he has been at the helm of a first-class team – in his 77th match at that level.