Even at the age of 38 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 ODI World Cup 2023. 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?
Du Plessis is currently 38 years old, which is considered to be on the higher side in terms of international cricket. While age is just a number, it is a well-known fact that as players get older, their reflexes and fitness levels start to decline. This may have been a factor in the team management’s decision to leave him out of the squad.
Faf du Plessis for South Africa
Before we delve into the reasons behind du Plessis’ absence from the South African squad, let us first take a brief look at his cricketing career. Du Plessis is a right-handed middle-order batsman who made his debut for South Africa in 2011. He quickly established himself as one of the key players in the team, and has since then 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. There was a time when the above mentioned names were regarded as the best in their respective fields. However, they fail to get a place now in the squad. One such name is Du Plessis. He is the current skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL. Being the skipper of a franchise in IPL defines your image as a cricketer. Still he is not in the national team of South Africa. Let’s see Why Faf Du Plessis is not in South Africa’s Squad?
South Africa ICC ODI World Cup 2023 Squad
Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.
Read also :- Why Sanju Samson is not selected in India’s World Cup Squad?
Why Faf Du Plessis is not playing in T20 World Cup 2022?
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. 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.
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 of 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.
However, even after all this, he was unable to get a place in the national squad for the ODI World Cup.
Du Plessis is a popular name in the world of cricket. At present, he is one of the stalwarts for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also has the responsibility to open for the team. Du Plessis took retirement from Test cricket last year but he was available for white-ball cricket. He has also expressed his desire to play in the next two T20 World Cups.
Read also: Why Yuzvendra Chahal is not selected in India’s ODI World Cup 2023 Squad?
Why Faf du Plessis is not in South Africa’s Squad?
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.
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.
