Du Plessis suggests two weeks’ isolation before and after T20 World Cup
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has suggested that the ICC implement a two-week isolation period either side of the T20 World Cup, to be able to successfully host the tournament in October-November, as scheduled.
“I am not sure,” du Plessis said in Facebook Live chat with Tamim Iqbal. “Reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lots of countries and they are talking about December or January. But even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it’s a health risk to them.
“But you can go in before the tournament [for] two weeks’ isolation and then play the tournament, and afterwards two weeks isolation. But I don’t know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can’t go there like old days on boats.”
Du Plessis also recalled the 2015 World Cup semifinal, which his side heartbreakingly lost to an almighty New Zealand team, despite setting them a steep target in a high-pressure encounter.
“I’ve never been that much broken about a cricket match,” du Plessis said. “You know you win and lose a lot of cricket games. Most of the time, when you lose, you are disappointed. But that game, specifically, I have never seen so many grown men absolutely broken. Like half the team was crying, and you know South Africans, we act like we are hard guys.
“The dressing room was absolutely broken. And we had to stay two days longer because we couldn’t get a flight back to South Africa, so for two days, whenever we saw our teammates, no one made eye contact or spoke. Afterward, I played the IPL, but I didn’t feel that I’m playing cricket as I was so heartbroken inside.”
