The South African batsman Faf du Plessis is still unsure about participation in the ODI series against England ahead the champions trophy as he is carrying a shoulder injury, which might rule him out of the initial phase of South Africa’s tour to England,
“The only guy that is carrying an injury in the 15-man squad is Faf.The team management is hopeful that du Plessis will be fit ahead of the first ODI which begins on May 24 at Leeds. A plan is in place to have him ready for the first ODI against England. We are not sure about the warm-up games yet, we’ll probably assess (his injury) once we get to the UK and take it from there,” Dr Mohammed Moosajee, the team manager said.
South Africa will be hoping for the Test skipper to recover well in time as in case if he is ruled out, then it will a big blow for South Africa.
The South Africa management will be in a tizzy whether to risk him or not as a four-Test match series follows Champions Trophy and it’s hard to imagine South African team sans skipper in a situation when there is neither AB de Villiers nor Dale Steyn in the side.
It’s a tough time for South African cricket and everyone is hoping for the recovery of Plessis so as he will be available for full 12 weeks itinerary.
Proteas will face hosts England in three-match ODI series starting on May 19 with a practice game against Sussex followed by another List A game. The international fixtures will kick off from May 24 which will also mark the start of ODI series.
Following that, the one-time champions side will play their first game of Champions Trophy against their group mate Sri Lanka on June 3, followed by a game against Pakistan and India.
Just after three days of the final of Champions Trophy, South Africa and England will meet in a three-match T20I series before a four-match Test series kicks off from July 6 and ending a month later of August 8.
It will be one of the longest tour of South Africa in the recent times and not just du Plessis, the fitness of every player will be the key for the side.