Faf du Plessis has spoken out about being left out of South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad. Despite being in sensational form in the build-up to the tournament, including a 633-run IPL 2021 with season champions Chennai Super Kings. The 37-year-old was ruled out of the national team for the World Cup event in the United Arab Emirates.
Faf du Plessis is currently playing for the Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 League. He stated that he wanted to play for the Proteas in the short-format World Cup, prompting him to announce his retirement from Test cricket. He believed that the cricket board had “unrealistic expectations” from players. Talking to ESPN Cricinfo, he says, “I am on a different journey now. Last year, when I played for South Africa against England in the series there. The plan was still very much to play in the World Cup. And the talks were that leading up to that. But at that time, it was just really difficult for Cricket South Africa and me to find something that allows me to still play overseas.”
I think that’s the challenge now because we are playing overseas
“That was the reason why I retired from Test cricket. They tried to, but we couldn’t find a middle ground and I think they wanted people that are available all the time. That made it a challenge for the guys like myself and Imran Tahir because we were playing overseas [franchise leagues] as well. I think that’s the challenge now because we are playing overseas. If they don’t want us to play all the games, it’s probably an unrealistic expectation,” he adds. “I still feel physically like I’m in a really good condition to play for however long I want to play for, so I’m fortunate that physically I can do that,” he said. “For me, age doesn’t really matter, like it would for someone else maybe. It’s the mental freshness and the motivation that become the two challenges for me. And I’m still very motivated.”
The upcoming T20 world cup is less than a year away. Head coach Mark Boucher has stated that every player is in contention for a spot on the team. “I certainly don’t think the door is closed for anyone. The Faf conversation was hard, and unfortunately, it just didn’t work out with the scheduling and all that stuff. It’s been tough during Covid times and bubble life, I understand from his perspective with family, has been very tough,” he says.