Reports: Faf du Plessis to return to Proteas white-ball squad

Veteran South Africa batter Faf du Plessis is set to make his return to the white ball squad for his national side. The star batter has retired from international cricket, back in 2021. However, he still continues to play in the T20 format with various franchises around the world.

The former South Africa skipper last played in white ball cricket during a T20I match against England in 2020. Meanwhile, his last ODI outing was against Australia in the 2019 ODI World Cup.

As per a report in Rapport Newspaper, the batter has met South Africa’s new coach, Rob Walter. Walter’s service will be available only for South Africa's ODI and T20I teams while their red-ball setup will be coached by Shukri Conrad. Walter is set to announce his first T20I squad on Monday, March 6, for the series against West Indies.

The chances of Du Plessis returning to the squad are very high as he had a stellar season in the inaugural SA20 2023. The 38-year-old is the captain of Stephen Fleming-coached side Joburg Super kings. He scored 369 at an average of 41.00 and a strike rate of 147.60 in the recent SA20.

Faf du Plessis willing to talk with the Proteas' limited overs head coach Rob Walter

Recently, Fad du Plessis is reportedly willing to meet the current limited overs' South African coach, Rob Walter. “I’m actually looking forward to having a conversation with the new head coach,” Du Plessis said, as quoted by Wisden.

“Not about me actually, I think what’s really important for South African cricket … everyone wants the best for South African cricket, so if you can pull in all the guys that have been around the team for a while and make sure we invest as much as we can into making sure that Proteas team is as strong as it can be," he added.

“From what I’ve heard, both of them are keen to make sure that we pull all the strong cricket brains into one hat and make sure we get the South African team to where it needs to be," he concluded.

Du Plessis is now a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). After two brilliant spells with Chennai Super Kings, he joined RCB in 2022. He was named RCB captain and led the side to the playoffs last season. Notably, in the recently-concluded SA20, Plessis remained in his sublime touch and scored 369 runs with a stellar average of 41 along with an impressive strike rate of 147.6 for Joburg Super Kings.

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