Cricket South Africa (CSA) seems to have given a rise to a massive controversy after their recent post on social media accounts. After Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won their 4th Indian Premier League (IPL) title on Friday, CSA only congratulated Lungi Ngidi for the win, a pacer playing his trade for the CSK.
However, Cricket South Africa very conveniently left out Imran Tahir and Faf Du Plessis from the post, who both play for CSK, and they haven’t announced retirement from South Africa, drawing sharp criticism from former cricketers and fans alike. Ngidi played only 3 matches in the IPL this season, picking 5 wickets at an economy rate of over 10.
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Faf Du Plessis, on the other hand, has amassed as many as 633 runs in the tournament, missing out on the Orange Cap, awarded to the highest run-getter, by a couple of runs to teammate and and opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad. On Instagram, former South African pacer Dale Steyn called the post disgusting for not mentioning Tahir and Du Plessis. The latter expressed his shock as well.
https://twitter.com/CrapCric/status/1449299965210152965?s=20
On Twitter, Dale Steyn said that Cricket South Africa has opened “a can of worms for themselves” with the post on Instagram and Twitter. The post has apparently been deleted from both the platforms.
CSA opening a can of worms for themselves with their Twitter and Instagram.
Whoever’s running those accounts needs a talking too.— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) October 16, 2021
Steyn had also said, “Delete the post and add all the men involved, save yourself the embarrassment and ridicule.”
CSA now blocked the comments section.
Here’s some advice.
Do the right thing.
Delete the post and add all the men involved, save yourself the embarrassment and ridicule.— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) October 16, 2021
Cricket South Africa has received a lot of stick from fans on social media for the post.
CSA really has the nerve pic.twitter.com/b7UPvZFdNc
— 👁 (@halfageminii) October 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/whoshud/status/1449277706516852737?s=20
Terrible from Cricket South Africa – Imran Tahir and Faf Du Plessis are modern day greats for them and they have treated them so badly in last few years. pic.twitter.com/xHU0s343nr
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 16, 2021
In the recent tweet, however, the CSA gave a special mention to du Plessis. “Notably Faf du Plessis who put in a Man of the match performance”, read the tweet. “Congratulations to all the South Africans who competed in and claimed victory in the 2021 IPL Final with Chennai Super Kings. Notably, Faf du Plessis who put in a Man of the match performance”, the new tweet read.
Congratulations to all the South Africans who competed in and claimed victory in the 2021 IPL Final with Chennai Super Kings. Notably Faf du Plessis who put in a Man of the match performance pic.twitter.com/rC9QaIZ90r
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) October 16, 2021
Faf Du Plessis has not been selected in the South African squad for the T20 World Cup that is set to begin in a few day’s time. In his absence from the T20 squad, selection convener Victor Mptisang had said, “Faf has got a wonderful record but we wanted to be consistent in the selection and this is the group of players we have gone with.”
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He further added, “When you’re working with free agents, you have to come together that works for both the team and the free agents, they’re obviously attracted to various leagues and then the squad has its own requirements on how they build towards a World Cup.”