3 SA players who should be protected during IPL 2019

#1. Faf du Plessis

Ever since Faf du Plessis took over the full-time captaincy of South Africa, he has been prone to injuries. He suffered a lower back injury in the series against Bangladesh in 2017 and was back in action against for the Test series against India. This was followed by a finger injury in the first ODI against India and was ruled out for the remainder of the ODI series.

Recently he suffered an injury to his right shoulder in the third ODI against Sri Lanka at Pallekele, the same shoulder on which he’d undergone a surgery last year.

The finger injury also kept du Plessis out of some part of IPL 2018. However, his most important knock for the Chennai Super Kings came in the playoffs where he scored 67 runs when the rest of the top order failed to reach double digits. This helped CSK reach the finals of the IPL 2018 comfortably. CSK have retained du Plessis who is set to play a prominent role for the team.

With the retirement of AB de Villiers, du Plessis holds the key to South Africa’s middle-order with an inexperienced Aiden Markam batting one down and remains one of the most important players in South Africa’s conquest to their maiden World Cup.