Faf du Plessis registers for the BBL overseas draft

In what comes as a major development for the Big Bash League (BBL), former South African captain Faf du Plessis has registered himself for the overseas draft, as per a report on the Cricket Australia (CA) website. This could see the veteran right-handed batter return to the league after a 10-year gap.

The BBL announced its decision to introduce a player draft for overseas signings, in a bid to secure the world's best T20 players for the tournament. The 12th season of the competition will mark the first instance of overseas players being signed via a draft.

Three of du Plessis' former international teammates, Rilee Rossouw, Marchant de Lange and David Wiese, have also come forward for the player draft. While Wiese now plies his trade with Namibia, Rossouw and de Lange quit their South Africa careers in pursuit of Kolpak deals in the English County circuit ahead of the 2017 season.

Owing to Britain's exit from the European Union, however, both have become eligible to represent South Africa again. Rossouw earned a recall to South Africa's T20I squad for the tour of England in July.

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Faf du Plessis has played a solitary game in the BBL

Faf du Plessis recently led the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to the playoffs of IPL 2022. While he has retired from Test cricket, he hasn't been picked to don the South African colors across the two white-ball formats since December 2020.

The Proteas cricketer has a solitary BBL game against his name, having turned out for the Melbourne Renegades in the 2012-13 edition. The overseas draft will comprise four rounds across four salary brackets - platinum ($340,000), gold ($260,000), silver ($175,000) and bronze ($100,000).

Given his vast T20 experience across different leagues around the globe and his captaincy upswing, du Plessis could well be a top-drawer attraction once the draft commences.