Graeme Smith hails Faf du Plessis for his contribution to SA cricket

Graeme Smith, the director of the CSA has praised Faf du Plessis for his contribution to South African cricket. Smith said that Du Plessis was fully committed to serve the nation and his retirement will leave a big gap in the Proteas Test squad. 

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“Faf has been a prolific Test cricketer for the Proteas for a number of years now and to lose him in this format is going to leave another big gap in the team. His commitment to the team has always been undoubtable and his transparency with Cricket South Africa about his plans has always been appreciated and we respect his decision, knowing he would not have come by it easily,” Cricket South Africa’s director of cricket Graeme Smith said in an official release.

Smith further thanked Du Plessis for his dedication towards the national team.

“I would like to thank Faf on behalf of CSA for his years of service and dedication to the Proteas’ Test team and we look forward to engaging further with him on how he can continue contributing to the team in a meaningful way,” Smith said.

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Faf du Plessis announced his retirement from Test Cricket citing that he wanted to focus on the two T20 World Cups. DU Plessis represented South Africa in 69 Tests and scored 4163 runs at an average of 40.02 including 10 centuries and 21 half centuries. 

“It has been a year of refinement in the fire for us all. Uncertain were the times, but they brought clarity for me in many respects. My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter. It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket,” wrote Du Plessis on his Instagram account” 

“The next two years are ICC T20 World cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be. I strongly believe that I have a lot to offer to Proteas in this format. This does not mean that ODI cricket is no longer in the plans, I’m just making T20 cricket the priority in the short-term,” du Plessis wrote in the post.

Du Plessis led the Proteas in 36 Tests, winning 18 and losing 15 matches. He won 17 of his first 27 matches but with Amla, De Villiers, Steyn, Morkel retiring, South Africa went into transition and lost most of their matches under his leadership. He stepped down from his post in January 2020.