South African captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years’ time will be his last. The 34-year-old, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside. “The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I’m really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me,” he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday.
Du Plessis, who is skipper across all three formats, made his T20 debut in 2012 and has played 41 times, scoring 1,237 runs at an average of 35.34.
Du Plessis said the strength of the domestic T20 leagues around the world made it difficult for national sides to consistently – if ever – field their strongest sides outside the World T20 tournament, suggesting it is an issue that needs to be looked at by the game’s governing body.
“From our perspective, T20 cricket for us over the last two or three years has been a case of bringing in the young guys, giving them an opportunity, so we never really play our strongest XI, which isn’t great for the international game,” he said.
“Football (has) a situation where it’s playing for your clubs and then there’s an international tournament. In my opinion that’s a good place for T20 cricket to be in, because you shouldn’t be trying to compete with the leagues because they are so strong at the moment.
