Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) bastman Faf du Plessis has been ruled out of the 2016 Indian Premier League (IPL) due to a broken finger. The South African T20I skipper confirmed the news on his Twitter account on Thursday.
Du Plessis also mentioned that he is likely to be out for 6 weeks which puts him in doubt for South Africa’s tri-series against Australia and West Indies which begins on June 3.
The 31-year-old had made an impressive start to this season’s IPL with 206 runs from 6 matches at an average of 34.22 and strike-rate of 127.16 for the Pune-based franchise. After 5 seasons at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he was drafted in by RPS at the IPL Player Draft for 2016.
This is a massive blow for the MS Dhoni-led side who lost English star Kevin Pietersen to a calf injury last week. Piteresen is expected to be out for 6-7 months which puts him out of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
It is rumoured that Australian batsman Usman Khawaja is likely to replace Pietersen in the RPS squad and the left-handed batsman could be the one to fill du Plessis’ opening slot.
Pune have won just 2 out of the 6 matches they have played this season, but will have their tails up after thrashing Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday. They next face table toppers Gujarat Lions at home on Friday.
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