South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was ruled out of the remainder of Sri Lanka series – two ODIs and a one-off T20I- after hurting his right shoulder during the third ODI on Sunday, confirmed Cricket South Africa (CSA).
CSA have decided against naming any replacement for du Plessis and will announce a captain from within the squad.
Du Plessis was forced to leave the field in the 10th over of the Sri Lankan when he hurt his righ shoulder while attempting a catch. The South African captain played no further part in the ODI, which South Africa won comfortably by 78 runs to win the five-match ODI series 3-0 with two matches still to go.
"Faf sustained an injury to one of the rotator cuff tendons in his right shoulder and will, unfortunately, be unavailable for the rest of the tour. He will need a rehabilitation period of up to six weeks to make a full recovery. His return date back to South Africa will be confirmed in due course," Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa's team manager, who is also a medical doctor, said.
Du Plessis’ date with injuries is nothing new. Earlier this year, he missed a major part of the limited overs series against India after fracturing his finger. Young Aiden Markram was named the interim captain. The repetition of this, however, seems unlikely as Markram lost his place in the side for the third ODI after a poor-run of form and his replacement, debutant Reeza Hendricks struck a fine century to lead South Africa’s charge.
With du Plessis injured, Markram will again have his opportunity to stake a claim in the ODI squad.
Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock, who led South Africa after du Plessis’ left the field in the third ODI in probability, will be asked to captain the visitors for the remainder of the series.
Du Plessis is expected to return to action with South Africa’s next assignment against Zimbabwe at the end of September.