'We’ve spoken about the T20 World Cup next year in July' - Faf du Plessis opens up on his potential South Africa comeback

Veteran Proteas batter Faf du Plessis has revealed that he is in talks with the new South African white-ball coach Rob Walter about a potential return to the squad. Notably, it’s been quite some since the flamboyant batter represented South Africa on the international stage and thus, his comeback has always been a matter of great intrigue - especially with the brand of cricket he is playing in the last couple of years.

Talking about his comeback, du Plessis stated that the next year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States of America will be the perfect place to make a return. However, with the ODI World Cup set to take place later in the year, du Plessis may receive an opportunity but the cricketer stated that at this phase of his career, probably T20 cricket suits him the most.

“I’m very grateful that the new coach has reached out to tell me that he would like me to be a part (of the team). At the moment, it’s just conversations to talk about where I’m at physically. I’ve been struggling with a tennis elbow for about a year now. I’ve had some injections into that… It’s a conversation where I feel like you got to look at the balance of where I’m at physically, emotionally, and mentally. Right now, that balance is really good.

“50-over cricket is a different story. Obviously, it’s a longer format. You’re on the field a lot more… We’ll cross that bridge after the IPL, moving into the latter part of the year. More than anything, we’ve spoken about the T20 World Cup next year in July, which is something we both want to make happen. That will be the focus point,” du Plessis said while talking to NDTV.

Notably, the 38-year-old has played 143 ODI matches, scoring 5507 runs at a strike rate of 88.6  0. When it comes to the shortest format of the game, the South Africa international played 50 matches, scoring 1528 runs at a strike rate of 134.38.