Friday will mark the start of Vernon Philander’s last Test at Newlands before he retires at the end of the series. But will it be the same for fellow Cape Town-resident and South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, too?

With South Africa not scheduled to play home Tests till early next year, when Sri Lanka visit, should du Plessis decide retire later this year, this series against England could prove to be his last at home.

The 35-year-old had said in November 2018 that the T20 World Cup this year would be his last. Then, despite a disappointing 50-over World Cup last year, he remained committed to the idea of seeing South Africa to the 20-over event in Australia. On Thursday, he reiterated that the T20 World Cup would mark a “crossroad” in his career.

“On the fourth and final morning, Philander bowled 30 consecutive balls to Burns, only conceding a run off the final one. Nortje added to his wicket tally, but it was Philander who had broken Burns’ resistance.”

✍ @danielgallan#SAvENGhttps://t.co/rZu3F3kWHJ

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 1, 2020

Ahead of the second Test against England, du Plessis admitted he had been giving some thought to his future, without coming to a decision yet. While he would like to finish his Test career in South Africa, he didn’t know if that would be the case.

“I was the last one standing now with Vern [Vernon Philander] going from our generation,” he said. “I said before that the T20 World Cup would be a crossroad in my career, where I will see where I am at. I think something will have to give. I don’t know what that is.”

Du Plessis, who has played 62 Test matches, 143 ODIs and 44 T20Is so far, hinted at possibly giving up one format, most likely ODI cricket.

“Over the next year, Test cricket and T20 cricket are our two main focus points. In the one-day game, we will start looking at guys that will get opportunities. It’s important that we do that more and get guys ready. There’s not a lot of Test cricket this year,” he said.

“I would like to finish off in South Africa but whether that will be the case, we will talk about it after the World Cup.”

South Africa are leading 1-0 in the four-match Test series.