Amla hails Cronje's 'inspirational' leadership

Former South African skipper Hashim Amla has extended his tribute to late skipper Hansie Cronje, describing his leadership style as 'inspirational'.

The 32-year-old said that Cronje, who died in a tragic airplane crash in 2002, was never loud-mouthed and all the players who played under him were inspired by the way he captained.

Amla had stepped down as Proteas Test skipper shortly after the conclusion of the drawn second Test against England at Newlands.

Speaking on his performance as the skipper, Amla insisted that everyone had his own style of leadership, adding that one should remain as natural as possible, Sport24 reported.

Amla further insisted his players to stop imitating anyone else and be original in order to achieve heights in life.

Earlier, Amla's leadership had come under sharp criticism since the start of the England series but he returned to form with the bat, scoring 201 in the first innings at Newlands.

After winning his first three series against Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and West Indies, he oversaw a rain-affected drawn series against Bangladesh and the 3-0 defeat in India.

With his resignation, swashbuckling batsman AB de Villiers will be captaining the side in the final two Tests of the series in Johannesburg and Centurion.