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CAPE TOWN. — England cricket captain Alastair Cook was sad to learn of Hashim Amla’s resignation as South Africa’s Test captain. Amla dropped the bombshell shortly after the conclusion of the drawn second Test between South Africa and England at Newlands on Wednesday.

“You’re under pressure as a captain for a lot of the time,” Cook was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

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

“He’ll have his reasons and I wish him all the best – he’s a really nice guy.”

Amla, who scored a double hundred in the match at Newlands, said he “remained committed” to representing his country across all formats.

He took charge of 14 matches in that time – winning four, losing four and drawing six.

Proteas team management also revealed that AB de Villiers would take over the captaincy for the remainder of the series.

And de Villiers says that captaining the Proteas Test side is a dream come true.

De Villiers, already skipper of the South African ODI team, was on Wednesday given the Test captaincy for the final two Tests in the ongoing England series after Hashim Amla stepped down from the role.

“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,” was the line from De Villiers as the news broke. — AFP.