India vs South Africa 2018: Faf du Plessis Ruled Out of ODI And T20I Series

Farhaan Behardien has been called up as du Plessis' replacement. Also, wicket-keeper batsman Heinrich Klaasen has also been given a maiden call-up to the ODI squad as back-up to first-choice Quinton de Kock.

New Delhi: Trailing the six-match One-Day International (ODI) series, South Africa have suffered a huge blow as their skipper Faf du Plessis has been ruled out of the series and the upcoming Twenty20 Internationals against India owing to a finger injury. Du Plessis was injured during the Durban ODI in which he scored his ninth hundred to take the Proteas to 269/8. India chased down that total with ease winning by six wickets and taking a 1-0 lead.

“I just got a blow (to my finger), so hopefully it will be fine for the next game,” du Plessis had said in the post-match conference.

However, further assessment revealed that he had sustained a fracture that will require 3-6 weeks to heal, thus ruling him out of the remaining five ODIs and three T20Is.

A replacement captain for the rest of the limited-overs’ schedule against India has not been named yet.

Farhaan Behardien has been called up as du Plessis’ replacement. Also, wicket-keeper batsman Heinrich Klaasen has also been given a maiden call-up to the ODI squad as back-up to first-choice Quinton de Kock.

Du Plessis is now facing a race against time to be fit for the first Test against Australia starting in Durban on March 01.

This a huge blow for the Proteas who had earlier lost batting mainstay AB de Villiers for the first three ODIs, also owing to a finger injury sustained during the third Test at Wanderers.

(With PTI inputs)