Just a day after the end of his best IPL season (449 runs in 13 outings), it has been confirmed that Faf du plessis will turn out for Peshawar Zalmi in the playoffs stage of the Pakistan Super League, which will resume from November 14.
The tournament, played in February-March, was brought to standstill by the Covid-19 pandemic right after the league stage was done.
Du Plessis has been roped in as a replacement for Kieron Pollard, who will be away in New Zealand tending to national duties in that period. In the backdrop of CSK’s season-ender against KXIP on November 1, the 36-year-old du Plessis had stated his desire to keep playing for at least five more years.
“I am very excited to join Peshawar Zalmi for the playoff stage games of HBL PSL 2020. I have fond memories of playing in Pakistan when I toured with the ICC World XI in 2017 and I am sure this experience, although different due to Covid-19, will be a memorable one as well,” Du Plessis said. He will be one of the seven South African players who will be in action during the knockouts stage of the tournament.
Other replacements
Karachi Kings bring in Sherfane Rutherford for England pacer Chris Jordan, while Waqas Maqsood has been roped in for the injured USA star Ali Khan. Lahore Qalanders have picked Tamim Iqbal to replace Chris Lynn, Abid Ali for Salman Butt and Agha Salman for Sri Lanka’s Sekkuge Prasanna.
Multan Sultans will be without Moeen Ali, and have replaced him with Mahmudullah. Adam Lyth has been picked to fill the void left by Fabian Allen. Besides du Plessis, Peshawar have a list of replacements – Hardus Viljoen for Liam Dawson, Yasir Shah for Lewis Gregory and Khurram Shahzad for Amir Khan.
On November 14, table-toppers Multan Sultan will take on Karachi Kings in the first qualifier, followed by the eliminator clash between Lahore Qalandar and Peshawar Zalmi. The second eliminator will be held on November 15, and the final on November 17.
