Du Plessis retires from Test cricket to focus on T20 format

Former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis has retired from Test cricket.

Du Plessis made the announcement on his Instagram account on Wednesday, saying he wanted to focus on the shorter formats of the game.

The 36-year-old, who made his debut in 2012 against Australia in Adelaide, ends his Test career having scored 4,163 runs from 69 Tests at an average of 40.02. He scored 10 hundreds and 21 fifties and hit a highest score of 199 against Sri Lanka in Centurion just a few weeks ago.

Du Plessis said he wanted to “walk into a new chapter” of his career and focus on the forthcoming white-ball tournaments.

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“It’s been an honour to play for my country in all formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket,” wrote Du Plessis.

“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 the 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.”

The middle-order batsman relinquished the national team’s captaincy in 2020, with wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock taking over.

Du Plessis said he would be in discussions with CSA about mapping out a plan for his role with the national team over the next few years.

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