Dale Steyn expresses disappointment at Faf du Plessis' omission from T20 World Cup squad

Former Protea pacer Dale Steyn expressed regret that his compatriot Faf du Plessis is not part of South Africa's T20 World Cup squad despite showing his class in the recently-concluded IPL 2021.

Du Plessis lead from the front as his IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings won its fourth title on Friday after beating Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs. The 37-year-old scored an incredible 86 off 59 balls to help CSK post a mammoth total on the board, which allowed its bowlers to then restrict KKR to 165/9 in 20 overs. 

'It blows my mind': Dale Steyn

The former South Africa skipper, who retired from Tests in 2020, has been kept out of the World Cup squad despite expressing his desire to play in all white-ball cricket for his country. Steyn, while speaking on ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time Out, said it blows his mind to see Du Plessis' exclusion from the upcoming World Cup squad despite performing exceptionally well for his side in the IPL. "You got to feel a little bit for Faf," Steyn said after the final game between CSK and KKR ended last night. 

"I feel a little bit for Faf right now, because he's in the country where a T20 World Cup is about to happen. And he's just scored almost 90 in an IPL final. And he's going to be on the next plane back to Cape Town in two days' time. I don't know. I can't even talk about it. It blows my mind," Steyn said on ESPNcricinfo. 

As per reports, all is not well between Du Plessis and Cricket South Africa, which announced the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup without including the former Protea skipper. After last night's game between CSK and KKR, Cricket South Africa turned to social media to congratulate the MS Dhoni-led side on winning the IPL title this year. However, CSA did not mention Du Plessis in its post and instead referred to Lungi Ngidi, who is also part of the CSK squad but did not play in the final, whereas Faf scored 86 off 59 balls to help his team win the cup. 

CSA later deleted the post but it was already too late. Du Plessis commented on the post, "Really??? (sic)" and Steyn commented, "Who's running this account? Last I checked Faf isn't even retired, Imran isn't retired, both these guys have given years of service to CSA and they not worth a mention? Disgusting. (sic)"

Du Plessis finished the 2021 IPL season as the second-highest run-scorer, second only to his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad, who edged him by just two runs to win the Orange Cap. Du Plessis scored a whopping 633 runs in 16 games at an average of 45.21, including six half-centuries. 

(Image: @DaleSteyn62/Twitter/PTI)