Faf du Plessis ruled out of CPL 2023, set to undergo elbow surgery

St Lucia Kings skipper and former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis is set to undergo elbow surgery after avoiding it for close to two years. He had been playing by using cortisone injections until now but he has been ruled out of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023 now. He is currently playing for St Lucia Kings in CPL and the team is at the top of the points table as well. But with surgery on the horizon, he has been ruled out of the remainder of the season.

Du Plessis was in great form as well scoring 112 runs in three innings even as the Kings won two matches out of five with two ending in No Result. After the team's recent loss to Trinbago Knight Riders, Du Plessis revealed that he had eight cortisone injections until now and cannot afford to have more of it. "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.

"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," Du Plessis said at the presentation ceremony of St Lucia Kings' last match.

Meanwhile, St Lucia Kings have announced their skipper as Sikandar Raza with Du Plessis no more part for this season. Du Plessis has backed the Zimbabwe cricket star to come good with his experience in the shorter formats. "Raza is someone who has played a lot of T20 and T10 cricket. So very much an experienced brain there; so it's great to have those guys on the field and ask questions. Obviously, it's a change, and probably you could say a big change because it's someone stepping into the shoes for the first time with the St Lucia Kings.

"But luckily, we've got someone like Sammy there who will make sure for the first one or two games there will be some direction from his side. And then trust the guy on the field with the resources that he has at his disposal," Du Plessis further added.