Mark Boucher Wants Faf Du Plessis, Kagiso Rabada Back In South Africa's T20 Squad

South Africa coach Mark Boucher is pushing to get skipper Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada back in the T20I squad for the upcoming series against Australia.

Both du Plessis and Rabada were rested for the ODI series against England at home. Later, the two of them were also omitted from the T20 squad against England which raised eyebrows but it was a necessary move, that was aimed at giving them a rest ahead of the T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia later this year.

They have been on an excessive workload for the last 18 months, du Plessis in particular, who, for his age of 35 years, had previously admitted that the T20 World Cup in all likelihood would be his last big tournament.

Therefore, having him fit, and well-rested for the upcoming World Cup is a no brainer, and the same goes for Rabada who will be South Africa’s prime bowler and his importance for the Proteas cannot be overstated.

In du Plessis’ absence, Quinton de Kock is currently leading Proteas team.

Mark Boucher wants Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada back for South Africa T20 squad

Ahead of the T20 series versus England, South Africa’s coach Boucher spoke highly of du Plessis, while labelling him as one of the best T20 players he has on his disposal.

“Faf is still one of our best T20 players,” Boucher said at the weekend, “but we feel at this point he needs a break away from the game. These guys (Du Plessis and Rabada) have been on the road and played a lot of cricket and any opportunity for a bit of a rest, we will give them that and keep their minds fresh.”

He further added, “Leading up to the (T20) World Cup there is a lot of cricket. I would like to think that by Australia they would have rested enough and can come back and play,” said Boucher.

South Africa have a packed schedule ahead of the T20 World Cup. Besides T20 commitments with England and Australia, they have a three-match ODI series against the latter and then three more ODIs scheduled in March, against India.

After that, the Indian Premier League(IPL) will begin and du Plessis and Rabada are key players for their respective franchises. Then the Proteas will play against Sri Lanka in June and the West Indies in August. Finally, the T20 World Cup will begin in October.

All this points to the fact that the South African Cricket administration will have to take very good care of du Plessis and Rabada. Otherwise, they will have only themselves to blame.