The South Africa Test squad for the first two matches of the three-Test series against Sri Lanka will be announced on December 14 at 11.00 am local, according to Cricket South Africa (CSA).

It will be the first time that Faf du Plessis will permanently take over as captain after AB de Villiers declared his decision to resign from the post. De Villiers's reign at the helm had lasted only for two Test matches after taking over at the start of the year as he was sidelined for much of it due to injury, before stepping down voluntarily citing "the interests of the team".

There aren't expected to be too many changes from the squad which conquered Australia by winning the series 2-1. De Villiers and Dale Steyn are still out with injuries.

It's likely that the squad will be trimmed down as they're playing at home. So with Morne Morkel close to attaining full fitness, Dwaine Pretorius - who was called up as Steyn's replacement but didn't get a game - may be released. Also, it will be interesting to see if both spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, are retained.

The first Test gets underway in Port Elizabeth on Boxing Day (December 26).

(Cricbuzz)