It's no surprise that at 39, Faf du Plessis is still one of the best South African players in the world, especially in T20 cricket. The class he oozes, the consistency with which he scores runs and at a strike rate over 140, du Plessis will walk into any and every T20 side but not South Africa. Having given up Test cricket in 2021, du Plessis hasn't played for the Proteas since then in any of the formats but with not much time left in his career, the former captain hasn't thrown the idea of his return out of the window.
After white-ball coach Rob Walter admittedly to create hype mentioned that du Plessis does have a chance of a return to the national side keeping the T20 World Cup 2024 in mind, the senior cricketer has further put a stamp on the chances of the same saying that they are very high.
Du Plessis, who is currently plying his trade in the Abu Dhabi T10 League for Morrisville Samp Army, said to the broadcaster that he has been in talks with the selectors and the board for the last couple of years about the return and it could be a real possibility before T20 World Cup 2024.
"I believe that I can return to international cricket as well. We have been speaking about this for the last couple of years. It's just figuring out the balance of the T20 World Cup next year. It's certainly something we have spoken about with the new coach. Watch this space," said Du Plessis.
Du Plessis, who has reinvented his T20 game at 38, said that he is putting in a lot of effort to keep his body in shape. Du Plessis, who scored 730 runs at a strike rate of 153 in IPL 2023 said that he is not getting any younger and to compete with the best, he has to maintain that level.
"I do a lot of hard work to ensure I look after my body to be able to play this brilliant game we love so much. When you do get a little bit older, you have to make sure you put in the work. Otherwise, the hamstring and other body parts do not work that well. There is a lot of fast running and a lot of stuff to make sure that level where you can play against the best players in the world," he added.
The likes of Du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw weren't picked for the T20 series against India but Walter mentioned in the press conference that all of them have a chance and that a lot will depend on SA20 since the Proteas don't play any more T20 cricket before the T20 World Cup.
