Faf Du Plessis Steps Down As South Africa Captain

Faf du Plessis has stepped down as captain of South Africa’s Test and T20I sides with immediate effect. According to a press release, the 35-year old “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”.

Last month, South Africa named Quinton de Kock as the ODI captain for the home series against England. The wicketkeeper-batsman continued to lead the side in the T20I series too when Faf du Plessis was rested. De Kock had also led South Africa in the T20I series on the tour of India last year.

Faf du Plessis, however, is expected to return to the T20I side for the upcoming three-match series against Australia, starting at the Wanderers on Friday. The right-handed batsman led the Proteas for the last time in the four-match Test series against England which they lost 1-3.

“The last few weeks of rest away from the game have given me a lot of perspective on the great privilege and honour I have had in representing and leading my country in the three formats of this wonderful game. 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,” Faf du Plessis said about his decision.

“When I took over the leadership, I did so with the commitment to lead, perform and most importantly, to serve. 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, but I remain fully committed to supporting Quinton, Mark and my teammates as we continue to rebuild and re-align as a group,” he added.

The star batsman further confirmed that he is available for selection in all the three formats of the game.

“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,” he said.

“After the 2019 ICC World Cup, I made the decision to continue in my role as captain while the team went through a rebuilding phase following the retirement of some key senior players and a complete overhaul of the coaching staff that we had worked with until then. 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. The last season of my captaincy has been the most challenging to date as I had a lot of off-field issues that I devoted my energy towards.

“I have strived to lead the team with dignity and authenticity during exhilarating highs and devastating lows. I have given my everything during my tenure. I have never been one to throw in the towel and do believe I am putting the team first and believe we have to stick through the tough times to get to the good times. 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. I am healthy, fit, energised and motivated and certainly see myself playing an important role in the squad for as long as I continue putting in winning performances for the team,” he added.

Faf du Plessis was under pressure to deliver for quite some time as captain. The results were just not going in South Africa’s way in the last one-year or so. Last year, they were stunned by Sri Lanka at home before being whitewashed by India. Prior to that, the Proteas also failed to make it past the league stage at the World Cup.

In the ongoing season, England thrashed them 3-1 despite losing the first Test.  What made things worse for Faf du Plessis was his poor display with the bat. The right-handed batsman has not made a Test hundred in over a year. Since the start of the series in India in India, he has scored only 293 runs in 14 innings.

As far as his captaincy stint is concerned, his greatest achievements as a captain arguably came against Australia. He is the only South African to lead his side to Test and ODI series wins against the Aussies both home and away. Du Plessis also led South Africa to a Test series win over India at home.