There is still hope that Faf du Plessis will return to South Africa’s T20 team

Faf du Plessis, who was left out of South Africa’s T20I squad to play the West Indies later this month but is still in contact with new white-ball coach Rob Walter, is still in the running for an international comeback.
The former captain’s potential impending comeback was addressed by Walter and du Plessis, but for the time being, difficulties with scheduling and contracting have prevented it.
Du Plessis might return to the picture for the 2024 T20 World Cup since Cricket South Africa (CSA) is expected to publish new central contracts later this month and single-format contracts are being discussed.
“We have always been open to talks with our freelance players and Rob is very much interested in resuming those conversations,”
Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s Director of Cricket said.
“In terms of contracting, us and SACA (the South African Cricketers’ Association) are engaging in that aspect to ensure that we remain proactive, because the reality is that a lot is evolving in our cricketing landscape.”
“We’ve got to try our utmost best to be on the front foot. A lot of players are still committed to all three formats but we have some players who are only white ball and some only red ball.”
“What we foresee in the near future, maybe even the next 12 months, is that we might even go more specifically to T20, ODI and Test contracts. Those are some of the things that we’re actually looking at.”
In February 2021, Du Plessis announced his retirement from Test cricket, but he was still available for selection in white-ball competitions. Despite outstanding performance in leagues all over the world, he was not selected for any series, including the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups.
In the 90 innings he has played in the PSL, CPL, IPL, BPL, BBL, and SA20 since his last Test, du Plessis has scored 2747 runs at 33.91, which is higher than his overall average of 31.18, including four of his five T20 centuries.
Nkwe acknowledged that Faf du Plessis had discussions with the CSA about returning for both T20I World Cups, but the selection committee at the time, which included Patrick Moroney and Victor Mpitsang, was unable to reach a decision.
“There were conversations before the World Cup with the selection panel and the coach and they concluded (without a solution),” .
Nkwe said
“From a CSA point of view, we are happy to engage and see how we can find the best way forward.”
Once Mark Boucher’s time as South Africa’s head coach came to an end, Mpitsang and Moroney were both let go, with the respective head coaches being in charge of selection.
While that provides Walter more control over hiring freelancers than Boucher would have, it does not address the main issues of scheduling and finances, both of which stopped AB de Villiers from coming back to play in the 2019 World Cup.
De Villiers had last-minutely called du Plessis, who was then South Africa’s all-format captain, to ask him to play in the 2019 ODI World Cup after he retired in 2018.
CSA had asked De Villiers to consider playing in at least two out of the 10 ODI series before that event, but his request was denied as he had not played any matches before then.
Ab De Villiers declined due to financial and scheduling issues, and CSA hasn’t fixed the issue since. They would typically pay a non-contracted player a match fee for participating in any games, but they now also have to take into account compensation if those games take place during a league where the player can earn more.
Short-term contracts, which Nkwe said are now being talked about, would probably account for that disparity and pay a player enough for him to choose national duty.