Faf has no intention of quitting captaincy

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Cricket365
April 20, 2016

South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis says he has no intention of giving up the T20 captaincy after the Proteas early exit from the World Twenty20, and also aims to be leading the side at the next event in 2019.

The Proteas failed to reach the knock out stage after defeats to England and the West Indies, prompting a review from Cricket South Africa, but Du Plessis insists the team is in good standing, despite this.

At 31, he feels he has plenty of time left in him, even though players like AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, and Imran Tahir are expected to let go of the format to prolong their Test careers.

Du Plessis said: "The wrong side of 30 would be over 35. I am 31. That's the right side of 30 and see myself playing a big role. I haven't thought of stopping playing T20 cricket. I feel my performances speak for themselves.

"I love captaining South Africa. I think some of the players, yes, won't be there in four years. But there won't be a lot of T20 cricket in the next while. So we can look at it in terms of a few younger guys coming through and building for the future.

"It's impossible to look four years ahead. It's an incredibly long time but for now I am loving playing T20 cricket and loving captaining South Africa."

As for the team, Du Plessis felt a few key moment going their way during the event would have changed things dramatically, and felt it was unfair to heap doom and gloom on the side while they were rebuilding in all formats.

He added: "The T20 side has been very successful of late. We didn't produce at an ICC tournament. The T20 World Cup is a tough one. Your easy game is supposed to be Afghanistan and they are just as good in these conditions.

"Our ODI side has also team has improved a lot. Two years ago we were in a bit of a hole and we rebuilt the side, now the Test side is there (needing to rebuild).

"In terms of ticking the boxes we had all areas covered. We had great variety in pace bowling. We had different combinations to play. We had great spin options, all round options. Everything was there.

"It was just a case of how to you deliver on the day when the pressure is on and that's the difference between winning a World Cup and getting knocked out."