Faf du Plessis points to CSA’s ‘unrealistic expectations’ for his 20-20 World Cup exclusion  

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has opened up on his exclusion from the 20-20 World Cup squad, despite being available for the selection in the white-ball formats. The seasoned campaigner had earlier retired from Test cricket but wanted to contribute for South Africa in the limited-overs formats of the game. However, despite showing some terrific form in the franchise T20 cricket preceding the 20-20 World Cup, Du Plessis could not find a place in the team.

South Africa had a good outing in the showpiece event but could not make it to the semifinal. Du Plessis, who is currently playing the Abu Dhabi T10 league said he was ready to play for the country in the 20-20 World Cup. The right-handed batter though opined that Cricket South Africa had some ‘unrealistic expectations’ from the players.

“I am on a different journey now. Last year, when I played for South Africa against England in the series there, the plan was still very much to play in the World Cup. And the talks were that leading up to that. But at that time, it was just really difficult for Cricket South Africa and myself to find something that allows me to still play overseas,” du Plessis told ESPNcricinfo.

The 37-year-old further opined that the CSA board wanted him, Imran Tahir, and Chris Morris to be available for selection all the time. The trio played franchise T20 cricket across the globe, and the CSA were against the idea.

“That was the reason why I retired from Test cricket. They tried to, but we couldn’t find a middle ground and I think they wanted people that are available all the time. That made it a challenge for the guys like myself and Imran Tahir because we were playing overseas [franchise leagues] as well. I think that’s the challenge now because we are playing overseas, if they don’t want us to play all the games, it’s probably an unrealistic expectation,” he added.