Faf du Plessis likely to retire from T20Is after World T20 2020

Du Plessis stated that he might draw curtains on his international T20 career after the ICC World T20 slated to be held in Australia in 2020

South African skipper Faf du Plessis has intimated about his retirement from the shortest format of the game of cricket. Ahead of the one-off T20I face-off against Australia (scheduled to be played on Saturday), Du Plessis stated that he might draw curtains on his international T20 career after the ICC World T20 slated to be held in Australia in 2020.

“The T20 World Cup is in Australia and that’s not too far away, so hopefully we’ll be back for that and that will probably be my last international tour I would think,” cricket.com.au quoted the Proteas captain as saying.

Speaking about the domestic T20 leagues around the world, the 34-year-old stated that they have prevented the national sides to play their strongest teams in the international tournaments.

“For our perspective, T20 cricket for us over the last two or three years has been a case of bringing in the young guys, giving them an opportunity, so we never play our strongest XI, which isn’t great for the international game,” he said.

“Football (has) a situation where it’s playing for your clubs and then there’s an international tournament. In my opinion, that’s a good place for T20 cricket to be in because you shouldn’t be trying to compete with the leagues as they are so strong at the moment. And I can see the same with the other teams – it’s almost never their strongest teams, and fans come to watch the best players play,” he added.

South Africa will play a one-off T20I against the Aussies on November 17 at the Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast.