Faf du Plessis opens up on exclusion from South Africa's T20 World Cup squad

After a sensational showing at the Indian Premier League 2021 with the champions Chennai Super Kings it came as a huge surprise to see batsman Faf du Plessis not be selected by South Africa for the T20 World Cup later in the year. He had finished as the second-highest scorer of the tournament with 633 runs and scored 86 runs off 59 balls in the final. Two days after Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced the South Africa squad and Du Plessis was left out, he went on to score 84 runs off 54 balls in the CPL for St Lucia Kings. However, recently Faf admitted to being on a 'different journey' now and not caring about that.

"Last year, when I played for South Africa against England in the series there, the plan was still very much to play in the World Cup. And the talks were that leading up to that. But at that time, it was just really difficult for Cricket South Africa and myself to find something that allows me to still play overseas," du Plessis explained to ESPNcricinfo.

Du Plessis calls it 'unrealistic expectation'

He further added that was the reason he had retired from Test cricket, and said that CSA wanted players who were available all the time and it became a challenge for players like him and Imran Tahir as they were playing overseas in various franchises leagues. He then called it an 'unrealistic expectation' to be available all the time and not play overseas. He also said that he is now looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and not the things that have already gone by.

Faf du Plessis further added, "Because that was the reason why I obviously retired from Test cricket especially. So they tried to, but we couldn't find a middle ground and I think they wanted people that are available all the time. That made it a challenge for the guys like myself and Imran Tahir because we were playing overseas (franchise leagues) as well. So I think that's the challenge now because we are playing overseas, if they don't want us to play all the games, it's probably an unrealistic expectation," he told the sports news portal.

(Image: IPL/BCCI)