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CAPE TOWN. – Proteas management are taking it “day by day” in assessing the fitness of captain Faf du Plessis ahead of the Boxing Day Test cricket. The Proteas will make history on December 26 when they take part in the first ever four-day, day/night Test match against Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth.

While the South Africans are overwhelming favourites going into the one-off Test, they could still be without Du Plessis, who continues to recover from a lower back injury. Convenor of selectors Linda Zondi confirmed to Sport24 on Wednesday that a decision was still to be made on Du Plessis’s availability.

“We’re taking it day by day and that is why he is in our squad until a final decision is made. We do have a plan in terms of the stand-in captain who feel would be best suited to the role. We did use Dean Elgar in England, and if need be we will make a call closer to the time,” Zondi said.

Elgar captained the Proteas in the first Test at Lord’s earlier in the year while Du Plessis stayed in South Africa to be with his wife for the birth of his child. Another option for the captaincy should Du Plessis be unavailable is AB de Villiers, who returns to Test cricket for the first time since January last year.

De Villiers captained the Proteas in two of those Test matches before taking a break from the game. Aiden Markram, meanwhile, is considered a future Proteas Test captain and at 23-years-old is another possibility. – AFP.