Faf du Plessis blasted for blaming IPL as the reason behind South Africa’s woes at World Cup 2019
Faf also said that they had advised Kagiso Rabada against playing the IPL.
South Africa were booted out of the ICC World Cup 2019 on Sunday after they slumped to a 49-run loss to Pakistan at Lord’s. This is only the second time since the Proteas made their debut in the Cricket World Cup in 1992 that they have failed to make the knock-outs of the premier tournament (after 2003). The Proteas started off their campaign with three consecutive losses and never could recover from the distress. The outcome of their campaign was particularly disappointing for a number of senior players who are at the threshold of retirement, including captain Faf du Plessis.
The 34-year-old du Plessis, the sixth captain to have led South Africa in the World Cup, came under the heat following his team’s early exit. However, he faced even more criticism for holding the Indian Premier League (IPL) responsible for the poor show. He said the South African players were not fresh when they came to the World Cup and made a particular mention about Kagiso Rabada, one of their main trump cards who has let the team and fans down so far in the tournament.
“So I don’t think it’s not necessarily just the IPL, but it was important for a few guys to rest; and the fact that they didn’t meant that they — you know, they came into the tournament not fresh. That’s not an excuse; that’s just a fact. And KG (Kagiso Rabada) is — you can see that his pace is probably a little bit down from where he normally is,” du Plessis said at a press conference, adding that he even had tried to stop Rabada from playing the IPL.
Du Plessis himself played IPL
The Twitterati was not impressed with the South African captain’s version though. Du Plessis himself was also a part of the IPL and featured till the last game as his franchise Chennai Super Kings made the finals. Rabada played for Delhi Capitals and had a terrific time with the ball till he left early because of an injury scare, along with Dale Steyn. He was the highest wicket-taker at the point but lost the top spot to compatriot Imran Tahir.
At the World Cup, Rabada had the major responsibility as Steyn was ruled out with injury but the bowler has managed to pick just six wickets with the best of 2 for 39 against India. He has bowled 303 overs since the start of the year and of them, 47 had come in the IPL alone. He averages 50.83 with the ball in his maiden World Cup, which is far worse a figure than his overall 27.74.
Du Plessis faced a backlash on the social media which said that having played he IPL himself, it was not right for him to blame the T20 tournament when it came to others.
Here are some of the reactions that the Twitterati had on du Plessis’ comment:
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