Faf du Plessis, former SA captain, announces Test retirement

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis. (Source: Twitter)

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has announced his retirement from Test cricket. Du Plessis announced his decision on social media on Wednesday (February 17) after South Africa’s proposed series with Australia was cancelled. 

Du Plessis had earlier announced that he wanted to compete against Australia at home. He released a statement on social media as he announced the big decision. “I really wanted to finish with the upcoming Test series against Australia. That would have felt like it has all come full circle. I had that clarity of mind and heart and even though the ending is not how I imagined, the clarity remains,” du Plessis said. 

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Du Plessis made his debut in Test cricket back in November 2012 against Australia and played his last match in the format against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. He had an incredibly poor outing with the bat in Pakistan, registering scores of 10, 23, 17 and 5. 

Overall in Tests, Du Plessis scored 4,163 runs at an average of 40.02 with 10 centuries and 21 half-centuries to his name. Du Plessis doesn’t have a double ton to his name in Tests, falling just one run shor, when he scored 199 against Sri Lanka at Centurion last year. 

Du Plessis took over as South Africa Test captain after succeeding AB de Villiers in 2016. He finally gave up the reigns back in 2020 after a disappointing 3-1 series loss to England.  

In all, Du Plessis led South Africa to 18 Test wins and 15 losses. He said his focus now shifts to T20 cricket but ODIs will also remain a part of his plans. 

“The next two years are ICC T20 World Cup years. Because of this my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be. 

“I strongly believe I have a lot to offer to the Proteas in this format. This does mean that ODI cricket is no longer in the plans, I am just making T20 cricket priority in the short-term,” Du Plessis added.