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Cape Town - Former Protea spinner Pat Symcox believes that AB de Villiers made the correct decision in standing down as Test captain.
On Monday, De Villiers decided to relinquish his Test captaincy role to Faf du Plessis.
De Villiers took over the captaincy earlier this year following the resignation of Hashim Amla and led the team in two Test matches against England before suffering a elbow injury, which has ruled him out of cricket since July.
In his absence, Du Plessis guided the Proteas to a 1-0 Test series win over New Zealand, a 5-0 ODI thrashing of the Aussies at home and then a 2-1 Test series win Down Under.
Since then there have been calls for Du Plessis to take over as permanent skipper despite national selection convenor, Linda Zondi insisting that De Villiers was the man for the job.
Symcox told Jacaranda FM that although he was surprised by De Villiers' decision, he believed it was the right call and said that a man of De Villiers' capacity shouldn't be burdened with captaincy issues.
"I think it’s a good call from AB," said Symcox. "His injured, he missed two series and they need some momentum just to keep things going. Faf has done an outstanding job."
"What was surprising was the call coming to give up the captaincy yet the convenor of selectors just a month ago was talking his captaincy up...
"AB is very involved in the game, whether he keeps wicket, fielding, batting - like a Jonty Rhodes-type player," said Symcox.
"It's not always very easy for busy players (like him) to take over the captaincy where Faf has a more measured, controlled personalty. And it (the captaincy) suits him better, we've seen it now."
"He (AB) is an astute player of the game, but he just seems more settled when he's got the freedom to play (his own game)."
