Faf du Plessis Set To Undergo Surgery For Tennis Elbow Injury; Likely To Be Sidelined For Three Months
Published - 29 Aug 2023, 01:37 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:17 AM
St. Lucia Kings captain Faf du Plessis has been ruled out of the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023 due to a tennis elbow injury. Faf du Plessis is set to undergo surgery for his tennis elbow injury in South Africa, which is expected to sideline him from action for at least three months.
Faf du Plessis sustained the injury during a 54-run victory against the Trinbago Knight Riders on Saturday, August 26. Despite the injury, the right-handed batter managed to score 57 runs off 30 deliveries. Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza will lead the team for the remainder of the tournament.
Happy With The Results – Faf du Plessis
Speaking at the post-match presentation of the St. Lucia Kings’ latest game, Faf du Plessis revealed that he’s been dealing with a tennis elbow injury for nearly two years, saying that surgery is the final option.
“Happy with the results but obviously sad [that] I’m leaving at a crucial stage in the tournament when you feel like the team can start doing some really good things in the tournament,” du Plessis said.
“For me, the challenge with the elbow is I’ve played with it (tennis elbow) for almost two years; I’ve had eight cortisone injections into my elbow. So I’m at a stage where the cortisone is not good for my body anymore; so that’s why the operation is always the last resort. I didn’t want to do it, but [have] time off now. I’ve got to basically go from here to get off the plane into the hospital to get the surgery done.”
The St. Lucia Kings are at the top of the six-team points table with six points in their tally. The franchise has won two out of five matches and suffered one loss. The remaining two games were abandoned due to rain. Du Plessis scored 112 runs in three innings in CPL 2023.
Feel Like Maybe Hitting At 80% Power – Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis revealed that the pain had an impact on his batting, saying that he struggled to score shots freely. He went on to say that he replied on timing rather than power game, given the small boundaries in the CPL.
“[During] the last while I did feel a little bit of loss of power – all because of the pain, which sometimes pulls the power back. So you just have to play a game where you feel like maybe hitting at 80% power, and [on] fields like this [in the CPL] a little bit smaller, you can just time the ball.”
The former South Africa skipper could be next seen in action due to the Big Bash League (BBL) season, which is scheduled to begin on December 7. He represented the Perth Scorchers franchise in the last edition of the BBL.
