Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s promotion as South Africa’s captain in the upcoming T20I series against India raised quite a few eyebrows. While many questioned this decision, team director Enoch Nkwe termed it a step into the future.

Nkwe said on Tuesday that it’s about time they look at the future with belief in Quinton de Kock’s leadership skills. However, he also acknowledged Faf du Plessis’ contribution both as a player and captain.

“We know where Faf stands as a captain and as a player. He has done great things for SA cricket. But we also need to look at what future looks like and we strongly believe in Quinton, who is going to be leading the team going forward,” Nkwe said during the inaugural media interaction at the HPCA ground.

“We have a good leader and it’s an opportunity to start building for the future,” he added.

While admitting that India is a formidable team, Nkwe is confident that this upcoming three-match T20 International series, beginning on Sunday, will help them assess the Proteas.

“It’s the start of a new chapter and focus will be the coming series against India. We would be looking to lay a good foundation going into the T20 World Cup next year in Australia,” Nkwe said.

“We still have a lot of games and have about 20 games (going into World T20) and we will assess the situation accordingly after these three games. Then build up for England series and so on.” De Kock’s experience of having played in India multiple times will be of great help, feels Nkwe.

“We have got a group of guys with good enough experience and the captain himself has played a lot of cricket in India. We have fresh blood that has come into the squad and that’s exciting and we will remain competitive,” Nkwe said, exuding confidence. However, he had no problems in admitting that India will be formidable in their own backyard,” he added.