Even at the age of 39 years, Du Plessis is still smashing bowlers while opening for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He is also the skipper of RCB. However, we were all shocked to see Faf du Plessis missing from South Africa’s recent squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. There has been a lot of speculation about the reason behind his absence, with some suggesting it is due to an injury, while others believe that it may be related to his age. Let’s see why Faf Du Plessis not playing for SA?
Why Faf du Plessis is not in South Africa’s T20 World Cup 2024 Squad ?
Faf du Plessis has a great record in T20Is, having scored 1528 runs in 50 matches at 35.53. He also has a T20I century. Still he failed to make into the squad of previous two T20 World cups and not this one too. The reason behind exclusion of Faf from the squad of South Africa is the differences between the player and the cricket board. The South Africa cricket board have strict rules regarding the players availability. However, it did not suit Faf as he has been greatly involved in franchise cricket all over the globe.
The reason behind Du Plessis’ non-selection in the squad was his inconsistency in playing for South Africa. The South African team selectors have stated that they could not convince the former South Africa captain to make himself consistently available for the Proteas which is the reason they had to leave him out from the upcoming T20 World Cup.
There is no doubt in the form of Du Plessis. He has been scoring plenty of runs in the shortest format of the game. Faf participates in a lot in franchise league around the globe. In fact, his ability can be judged from the fact that he was appointed the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2022 season. He scored 468 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 127.52 in IPL 2022.
Du Plessis is a right-handed middle-order batsman who made his debut for South Africa in 2011. He has played 69 Tests, 143 ODIs, and 50 T20Is for South Africa. He has scored more than 8,000 runs in international cricket, and has also captained the team in all formats of the game.
Most of the players from the legendary era of South Africa have either retired or are not a part of the squad. Fans will not be able to see the veteran players like AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Chris Morris in the upcoming World Cup.
On Faf Du Plessis’ absence from the squad, convener Victor Mptisang said the following statement:
“Faf has got a wonderful record but we wanted to be consistent in the selection and this is the group of players we have gone with. When you’re working with free agents, you have to come together that works for both the team and the free agents, they’re obviously attracted to various leagues and then the squad has its own requirements on how they build towards a World Cup.”
Why Faf is not playing for South Africa?
Former South African cricketer Graeme Smith also said that talks were held with 37-year-old Du Plessis but it was not possible to reach agreement with the former captain who is now regarded as a “free agent” as he is no longer contracted to CSA.
Another reason behind his omission is that he has not played a white-ball match for South Africa since December last year and has not been part of any their recent squads either.
