Time for Faf to start pitching

It will be interesting to see if former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis can find his touch in the closing stages of the SA20 and force himself into consideration for the national team ahead of the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States in June.

The 39-year-old Du Plessis can consider himself incredibly unlucky, having last played for the Proteas T20 side in December 2020, despite being in terrific form in various T20 competitions over the past three years.

In Du Plessis’ autobiography, called Faf: Through Fire, he claimed that a complete breakdown in his relationship with former Proteas coach Mark Boucher was to blame for his omission from the Proteas ODI (last played July 2019) and T20 teams.

Having retired from Test cricket in February 2021, Du Plessis still kept himself available internationally for the shorter format of the game, and has pushed his case for selection with some brilliant performances in various tournaments.

He has particularly shone in the Indian Premier League where he was the second-highest run scorer in the 2021 edition, seventh-highest (behind fellow South Africans Quinton de Kock and David Miller) in 2022 and again second-highest in the 2023 edition.

In the inaugural edition of South Africa’s flagship SA20 competition he was also in top form to finish as the secondhighest run scorer behind England’s Jos Buttler last year.

Du Plessis admitted late last year that he had been in talks with new Proteas white ball coach Rob Walter about a possible return to the national set-up, but his form has waned over the past six months or so, casting doubt on that.

A tennis elbow injury that needed surgery halfway through 2023 is part of the reason for his dip in form, with Du Plessis recently admitting that he has struggled to regain his previous form since going under the knife.

In this season’s SA20 he has been in dreadful form, currently sitting 33rd on the run scoring chart with 74 runs in six innings at a very moderate average of 14.80.