Bangladesh, Feb. 17 -- Faf du Plessis stepped down as captain of South Africa's test team on Monday ahead of an expected retirement from international cricket later this year.

Du Plessis quit as test and Twenty20 captain. He had already recently been replaced as one-day captain by Quinton de Kock.

De Kock, a wicketkeeper-batsman, is the front-runner to also replace du Plessis as captain in tests and T20s. He led South Africa in this month's T20 series against England while du Plessis was rested.

The 35-year-old du Plessis had led the test team as permanent captain since late 2016 and was captain in all three formats since 2017. He had stepped in as South Africa captain in a T20 series as early as 2012.

Du Plessis' decision was not a s...