Former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect. However, the right-handed batsman has expressed his desire to continue playing white-ball cricket for his country with his eyes on the upcoming two ICC T20 World Cups.
Du Plessis, who made his Test debut against Australia in 2012, represented the Proteas in 69 Test matches and scored over 4,000 runs in the format at an average of 40. He has struck with 10 centuries and 21 fifties in his Test career which spanned a little over 8 years. His highest score of 199 came against Sri Lanka at Centurion in December 2020.
Also Read: South Africa Set To Tour Ireland In July For Three ODIs, T20Is Each
“My heart is clear and time is right to walk into a new chapter,” Faf du Plessis wrote in his retirement post.
Also Read: Watch – Rishabh Pant’s Bicycle Kick Leaves Virat Kohli In Splits
Faf du Plessis sets eyes on T20 World Cups
He captained the South African Test side on 36 (won 18) occasions. Faf du Plessis was removed as the ODI team captain after South Africa’s poor show in the World Cup 2019. Later in February 2020, he himself decided to step down as the Test and T20I captain of the team.
In his retirement post, Faf du Plessis said that he would like to focus more on the T20I format because of the two upcoming World Cups in India (2021) and Australia (2022). He also added that he would like to play in the format across the world to better prepare himself for the major ICC events. The 36-year-old star also made it clear that ODI cricket is still in his plans, adding that for the short-term T20 cricket was his priority.
He will next turn up for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2021 scheduled to take place during the month of April and May.