Cook saddened with Amla stepping down as Proteas skipper

Under Amla’s captaincy, South Africa registered out of the 14 matches, four wins, six draws and four loss. “Obviously Amla will still be in the team and he’s in form after scoring 200 runs so that may even free his mind up even more”.

ODI squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn.

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

“I felt someone else could do a better job”, Amla told journalists.

An enthused Cricket South Africa selection convener, Linda Zondi said, “We were highly encouraged by the performance put up by the Proteas at Newlands”.

The 32-year-old revealed his decision shortly after the second Test against England was drawn in Cape Town this afternoon – a match in which Amla scored 201, his highest-ever knock as Proteas captain.

Hashim Amla and AB De Villers partnership of 308 runs against West Indies is the record 4th wicket partnership for South Africa in a test match, was played from 17-20 December 2014.

“It’s always sad when someone steps down because to captain your country is a huge honour and a real privilege”.

He added: “He is just that type of a person and we are very fortunate to have him in our stable”.

Bayliss does not expect the change of captains to make a major difference to South Africa, though he suggested it could give Amla more opportunity to concentrate on his batting.

“I want to thank AB for readily accepting the challenge of rebuilding our Test team as we seek to remain the best team in the world”, added Lorgat.

South Africa have kept their squad unchanged for the last two Tests of the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy 2015-16, after a run-fest at Cape Town during the second Test ended in a draw.

The news emerged after Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali – with the help of bad light – guided England to safety on the last day after a dramatic collapse.

Fellow opener Alex Hales was out next over to a diving one-handed catch by debutant Chris Morris in the slips.

England scored 629-6 in 125 overs while South Africa scored just about the same number of runs in 211 overs.

Meanwhile, de Villiers said he is proud to be given the responsibility of leading the national cricket side.