New South Africa captain Quinton de Kock has welcomed former captain Faf du Plessis to the One Day International squad as they are all set to meet India in Dharamsala on Thursday.

“Faf plays big role for us from a leadership point of view. He’s here to help out a lot of the younger guys in the team, and he still adds a lot of value to us and he also knows he has lot of value to give to this team,” de Kock told a news conference on the eve of the match.

“It’s still great to have him around. The experience he has picked up over the years will be a great help to us in this series. He’s been given a chance to have a break. I feel it was important for him to put his feet up for a little bit and regather his thoughts,” he further added.

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Quinton de Kock replaced Faf du Plessis as the captain of the ODI team for the three-match series against England when the later was surprisingly dropped out because the team have failed to do well under his captaincy. Then he quit as South Africa captain across all three formats of cricket but said that he would remain available for the selection and after not getting selected for the 3-0 home series win against Australia over the last fortnight, was recalled to the team for the upcoming three matches in India as well.

“We understand we have an inexperienced next side in these conditions, so it’s important that guys like me and Faf help lead the way,” added Quinton de Kock. “India have become an unbelievable team but we are also coming here with a lot of confidence.”

The first game will be played on Thursday in Dharamsala which will be followed by a match on Sunday in Lucknow and next Wednesday in Kolkata as well.