Throughout this duration, the South African cricketer had been relying on cortisone injections as a temporary remedy.
After enduring a tennis elbow injury for approximately two years, Faf du Plessis is finally scheduled to undergo surgery to address the issue. Throughout this duration, the South African cricketer had been relying on cortisone injections as a temporary remedy. However, the situation has now progressed to a point where a more lasting solution is necessary.
Opting for the surgical route has led to the 39-year-old’s premature departure from the ongoing Caribbean Premier League season. His team, the St Lucia Kings, had been leading the points table midway through the season. The team has secured two victories, suffered a single loss and experienced two no-result matches out of five games. During this time, Du Plessis managed to amass 112 runs in three innings.
“Happy with the results but obviously sad [that] I’m leaving at a crucial stage in the tournament when you feel like the team can start doing some really good things in the tournament,” du Plessis said at the post-match presentation of St. Lucia Kings’ latest game.
“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,” the Proteas added.
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With Du Plessis stepping down, the role of captaincy for the St. Lucia Kings has been bestowed on Sikandar Raza for the remainder of the season. Losing a pivotal player who also serves as the captain is far from ideal for any team. Nonetheless, Du Plessis expressed his confidence in the team’s abundance of leadership figures, endorsing Raza to capably shoulder the responsibilities.
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