Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis gets new year-long contract from CSA

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has seen a roller-coaster ride recently. He lost his place in the national team during the home series against England after leading the Proteas in the Test series that they lost 1-3. He later made a comeback to the side for a three-match T20I home series against Australia but was ‘rested’ again for the three-match ODI series against the Kangaroos that followed.

In a new development, the 35-year-old batsman has been offered a new year-long contract by Cricket South Africa (CSA), suggesting that his international career will now extend beyond the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November. The South African board has said time and again that the veteran still features in its future plans and the contract made it evident that Du Plessis is still not a tale of the past.

On the contrary, the Proteas will be banking on his experience in the T20 World Cup. Faf du Plessis was among the 16 recipients of the national contract for the 2020-21 season and will now be available for the home Tests against Sri Lanka and Australia next summer. He has played 65 Tests, 143 ODIs and 47 T20Is to score over 10,000 runs.

Wicket-keeper-batsman Quinton de Kock replaced Faf du Plessis as the captain in all three formats recently though the former’s journey so far has been mixed.

CSA is yet to hand over the 17th contract

The CSA has, however, held back on handing out the final contract. The reason is sending an incentive to those who did not make any cut. “We have decided to keep the 17th men’s contract open for the moment and players can qualify for it through performance,” CSA Acting Chief Executive Jacques Faul said in a statement on Monday.

Among the 16 recipients, pacer Beuran Hendricks, who featured in the Test series against England, is the only new one. Interestingly, Dale Steyn who retired from Tests last year and has been playing only T20 cricket for South Africa, has not been offered a central contract.

The list of contracted players includes besides Faf du Plessis and Hendricks, De Kock, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Dwaine Pretorius, Anrich Nortje, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Dean Elgar, Reeza Hendricks and Andile Phehlukwayo.