South Africa rest Faf du Plessis for three-match ODI series against Australia

South Africa are currently involved in the T20I series against Australia. The series has taken an interesting turn as the three-match series is currently levelled 1-1. Now, the series decider is scheduled to be played on Wednesday in Cape Town. Meanwhile, Cricket South Africa has announced the squad for the three-match ODI series against Aussies and the board has taken a strong step by resting their former skipper Faf du Plessis.

Faf du Plessis had recently stepped down from the captaincy of all the formats with immediate effect and now, he has been excluded from the ODI squad. It was quite a surprising piece of news for the fans as they were expecting that the 35-year-old will don the Proteas jersey against Australia. Later on, Mark Boucher, the head coach of South Africa cleared it in the press release that they have rested the former skipper in order to manage his workload.

Mark Boucher explains Faf du Plessis’ omission

The head coach also stated that Faf du Plessis is still in their ODI plans and the management felt that this is the best opportunity for the young players to emerge and show their potential. And, the board has used this strategy in the past too in order to manage their workload.

“Faf has been fantastic for us in white-ball cricket and remains very much in our ODI plans and we will manage his workload for the near future diligently. If we feel that we need to rest players, we will, as we have done in the recent past. I would like to strengthen our depth pool right now and see what players we have out there. I feel that this is the time and opportunity to do so,” Mark Boucher said as quoted by Times of India.

In 2019, Faf du Plessis was playing at his best in the ODI format as he managed to gather 814 runs in 19 games at an average of 67.83 with two tons and six half-centuries. It was a much-needed break for the veteran player, who has been a regular face of South Africa team in the limited-overs format since a long time.

CSA has also rested their middle-order batsman Rassie van der Dussen and seaming all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius. On the other hand, Keshav Maharaj has managed to receive an ODI call-up after a long span of 20 months. He has got the reward for his influential form in the Momentum Cup where he has grabbed 13 wickets in his six appearances for Dolphins. Lutho Sipamla and top-order batsman Janneman Malan along with wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne have also been picked in the squad that will face Australia.

The ODI series is slated to begin from 7th of March and the series opener will be played in Paarl followed by games in Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom.

South Africa Squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Beuran Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Janneman Malan, Jon-Jon Smuts, Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla, Keshav Maharaj, Kyle Verreynne

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