OPINION: Bar fantastic Faf, SA’s best are finding the going tough in the IPL

The 27th match of the 70-game 2023 Indian Premier League competition will be played on Thursday and only one South African is shining — the “golden oldie” Faf du Plessis, who can’t get a game for his country.

The debate about whether Du Plessis should be playing for the Proteas T20 team is now boring — and has been written about on many platforms by many different people — so this column is more about those players who are not performing, or getting a chance, in this year’s IPL.

For the record, Du Plessis is the leading run-scorer (259) from his five matches, with an incredible average of 64.75 and strike rate of 172.

But, sadly none of the other South Africans, whether the established Proteas players or the exciting next generation, are giving their Indian employers much to cheer.

Batters

Before Wednesday’s match between the Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants, Aiden Markram was 31st on the run-scorers list with 109 runs from four matches (strike rate 167), David Miller was 35th with 96 runs from four matches (strike rate 143), Heinrich Klaasen was 56th with 52 runs from three matches (strike rate 236) and Rilee Rossouw was 58th with 44 runs from three matches (strike rate 133).

Tristan Stubbs had played one game for five runs, while, if my searches on the internet were correct, Quinton de Kock and Donovan Ferreira had yet to play a game.

Bowlers

And the bowlers haven’t been much better.

Marco Jansen, with six wickets from three games, has performed well and is the best of the SA contingent, while Wayne Parnell, with five from three games, has also been decent so far, after getting in as a late injury replacement.

Kagiso Rabada has three wickets from his two games and Anrich Nortje two wickets from four games.

Duan Jansen has picked up one wicket from his one game so far, while Sisanda Magala also has the one wicket, from two games.

Dwaine Pretorius and Lungi Ngidi have not featured, and neither has highly-rated rookie Dewald Brevis.

Besides 38-year-old Du Plessis, for RCB, it’s been a lean time for the men from South Africa and here’s hoping they can get a few more games and make some big contributions as the competition goes on.