Faf du Plessis ruled out of CPL 2023, set to undergo elbow surgery
Faf du Plessis, the captain of the St. Lucia Kings and a former captain of South Africa, is scheduled to have elbow surgery after postponing it for almost two years. He had been utilizing cortisone injections while playing up to this point, but he has now been disqualified from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2023. He is now a member of the St. Lucia Kings, who are also leading the CPL points standings. He will not play the rest of the season, though, since surgery is scheduled.
Du Plessis was also in excellent form, hitting 112 runs in three innings while the Kings won two of the five games and the other two had no outcome. Du Plessis disclosed after the team’s most recent loss against Trinbago Knight Riders that he had received eight cortisone injections up to that point and could not afford anymore.
“Happy with the results, but obviously sad [that] I’m leaving at a crucial point in the tournament when you feel like the team can start doing some really good things in the tournament,” the player said of the team’s performance.
“For me, the challenge with the elbow is I’ve played with it (tennis elbow) for almost two years; I’ve had eight cortisone injections into my elbow. So I’m at a stage where the cortisone is not good for my body anymore; so that’s why the operation is always the last resort. I didn’t want to do it, but [have] time off now. I’ve got to basically go from here to get off the plane into the hospital to get the surgery done,” Du Plessis said at the presentation ceremony of St Lucia Kings’ last match.
Faf du Plessis ruled out of CPL 2023, Sikandar Raza named Kings’ skipper for the season
Du Plessis has been dropped by the St. Lucia Kings for this season, while Sikandar Raza has been named as their new captain. Du Plessis believes that the Zimbabwe cricketer will succeed thanks to his experience in shorter formats. “Raza has experience playing both T20 and T10 cricket. It’s nice to have those folks on the field and able to ask questions since that person is really knowledgeable and experienced. Obviously, there has been a shift, and you could even argue that it has been a significant change because someone is now filling the St. Lucia Kings’ shoes for the first time.
“But luckily, we’ve got someone like Sammy there who will make sure for the first one or two games there will be some direction from his side. And then trust the guy on the field with the resources that he has at his disposal,” Du Plessis further added.
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