Batsman Faf du Plessis‘ inclusion in the Proteas’ squad for this year’s World Cup is becoming increasingly unlikely.
Du Plessis has retired from Test cricket, but has not formally ended availability for ODI or T20I selection. He has not played international cricket since February 2021.
Du Plessis is currently playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore – and is the leading run-scorer in the 2023 Indian Premier League.
Proteas limited-overs coach Rob Walter recently all but ruled out the potential inclusion of du Plessis in the 2023 World Cup squad.
“I’ll talk about it more when the time is right. Now it’s not needed as I’m currently at the IPL,” du Plessis told Cricbuzz last week.
Proteas qualify for 2023 World Cup
The Proteas recently gained direct qualification to the 2023 World Cup.
“We’re obviously chuffed to qualify directly because it makes life a lot simpler not having to go through the qualifying tournament,” Walter told ESPNcricinfo at the time.
“But there would have been an upside to competing in the qualifier given the very quiet winter we have. What we have now is the chance to spend some quality time outside of competition getting ourselves ready for a marquee event
“We have a number of camps planned throughout the winter in the lead up to the Australia series which obviously forms our final preparation for the World Cup.”
India will host the 2023 World Cup from 5 October to 19 November.