The South African stalwart, Faf du Plessis has decided to relieve himself from the captaincy duties in the shortest and the longest format of the game. On Monday, Cricket South Africa made an announcement regarding the same. The 35-year-old has cited a need to take a step back from captaincy in order to help facilitate the emergence of the next generation of leaders within the team under the new stewardship of Quinton de Kock.
Du Plessis said he would like to concentrate on contributing to the team with his experience and advice to the new leadership group as part of their succession planning.
Talking about his retirement, Faf said, “It has been a rewarding, sometimes tough and other times a lonely road, but I would not replace the experience for anything, because it has made me the man that I am proud to be today.”
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CSA took to social media to make the announcement and their post read: “Faf du Plessis has announced that he is stepping down from his role as captain of the Proteas’ Test and T20 teams effective immediately.
#BreakingNews @faf1307 has announced that he is stepping down from his role as captain of the Proteas’ Test and T20 teams effective immediately. #Thread pic.twitter.com/ol9HzpEOhZ
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) February 17, 2020
They further wrote: “The 35-year-old has cited a need to take a step back from captaincy in order to help facilitate the emergence of the next generation of leaders within the team under the new stewardship of Quinton de Kock.”
The 35-year-old has cited a need to take a step back from captaincy in order to help facilitate the emergence of the next generation of leaders within the team under the new stewardship of Quinton de Kock. pic.twitter.com/SXpQSAEGRO
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) February 17, 2020
Talking about his retirement further du Plessis said, “As the team heads into a new direction with new leaders and a young crop of players, I feel it will be in the best interests of South African cricket to relinquish the captaincy in all formats. This was one of the toughest decisions to make. It was important to me that I stayed to help the team find its feet and plot a new way forward while assisting in identifying the next generation of leaders within the players’ group during a time of turbulence in SA cricket.”
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He further added, “In a perfect world, I would have loved to lead the team in the Tests for the rest of the season as well as the T20 World Cup, but sometimes the most important attribute of a leader is to be selfless. South African cricket has entered a new era. New leadership, new faces, new challenges, and new strategies. I remain committed to play in all three formats of the game for now as a player and will offer my knowledge and time to the new leaders of the team.”
Du Plessis led the South African team in as many as 122 international games since December 2012 when he led South Africa for the very first time against New Zealand in a T20 series. He led the Proteas in several famous victories, including the team’s five-nil inbound ODI series and 2-1 outbound Test series victories against Australia in 2016.
