Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis announces Test retirement

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis announced his Test retirement on Wednesday but has vowed to continue playing white-ball cricket. His announcement came just a few days after Australia's tour of South Africa was scrapped because of the COVID-19 situation in the Rainbow Nation.

Du Plessis announced his arrival in Test cricket in his debut game, where he had scored a match-saving century in the final innings at the Adelaide Oval in 2012 and he went on to represent South Africa in as many as 69 Tests.

The Pretoria-born took over Test captaincy from his childhood best friend AB de Villiers in 2016 and led the side in 36 games before giving up the role last January following South Africa's home series defeat to England. Under du Plessis' leadership, South Africa clinched 18 wins, 15 losses, and three draws between 2016 and 2020.

"It has been a year of refinement in the fire for all of us. My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter. It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket. If someone had told me 15 years ago, that I would play 69 Test matches for South Africa and captained the side, I wouldn't have believed them. I stand in a place of utmost gratitude for a Test career full of blessings bestowed on me," du Plessis wrote in a post on Instagram, where he also shared a statement on his decision.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLYYrqHlrjf/

The 36-year-old has ended his Test career with 4,163 runs in 36 Tests at an average of 40.02. In his nine-year Test career, du Plessis struck 10 centuries and 21 fifties.

The former Proteas captain, who is in the twilight years of his career, went on to explain that keeping in mind the upcoming back-to-back ICC T20 World Cups (2021 in India and 2022 in Australia), he has decided to shift his focus to the shortest format.

"The next two years are ICC T20 World Cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly b. I strongly believe that I have a lot to offer to the Proteas in this format. This does not mean that ODI cricket is not in the plans, I'm just making T20 cricket the priority in the short-term," added du Plessis in the same statement.

Du Plessis, who is among the six South Africans who have 1,000 or more Twenty20 International (T20I) runs has scored 1,528 runs in 50 T20Is, including a hundred and 10 half-centuries. Apart from du Plessis, only David Miller, Richard Levi, and Morne van Wyk have a T20I century among the Proteas batsmen. In the 50-over format, du Plessis has scored 5,507 runs in 143 ODIs at an average of 47.47.