Faf du Plessis likely to play beyond T20 World Cup after new central contract: Report

Seasoned South African cricketer Faf du Plessis relinquished the captaincy of all three formats to wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock after a home Test series defeat to England in January 2020. In spite of stringing some poor batting performances of late, Faf du Plessis found himself in the list of centrally contracted players as revealed by Cricket South Africa (CSA). The cricketer was one of the players selected by the board for South Africa’s 2020-21 cricketing season.

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CSA announces list of centrally contracted players

The list is slated to cover the upcoming South African cricketing season. Among several bilateral home and away series the list is scheduled to cover, the upcoming T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia also falls under the same. While much remained uncertain regarding Faf du Plessis’ future in international cricket not long ago, his inclusion in the centrally contracted players by CSA makes him a likely candidate to appear in this year’s T20 World Cup.

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Quite notably, his long-time teammate and South Africa pace demon Dale Steyn was excluded from the list of contracted players. The list was announced on Monday, March 23 and it includes 16 men and 14 women cricketers. According to CSA Acting Chief Executive Jacques Faul, the board has decided to keep the 17th slot in men’s list open so that the players can qualify for the same through their performances.

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IPL 2020: Faf du Plessis in CSK team 2020 and IPL postponed

During the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) auction, Faf du Plessis was retained by Chennai Super Kings for the upcoming IPL 2020 season. The right-handed batsman was retained for ₹1.6 crore and was one of the 19 cricketers retained by the popular franchise. While he was all set to reprise his CSK role in IPL 2020, the tournament was postponed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The news of the IPL 2020 postponement came in wake of the ongoing worldwide crisis caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

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