ESPNcricinfo
St Lucia Kings captain Faf du Plessis has been sidelined from the rest of CPL 2023 with a long-standing tennis-elbow injury, for which he will now undergo surgery. Zimbabwe allrounder Sikandar Raza, who made his debut for Kings only earlier this month, will take over as the captain of the side. Kings have also roped in Colin Munro, the highest run-getter among overseas players in CPL history, as du Plessis’ replacement.
After powering Kings past Trinbago Knight Riders in Basseterre on Saturday, du Plessis said he would undergo surgery after reaching South Africa. And on King’s Instagram channel, he suggested that he could be out of action for about three months.
“Happy with the result, but obviously sad [that] I’m leaving at a crucial stage in the tournament when you feel like the team can start doing some really good things in the tournament,” du Plessis told Ian Bishop at the post-match presentation. “For me, the challenge with the elbow is I’ve played with it (tennis elbow) for almost two years; I’ve had eight cortisone injections into my elbow.
Du Plessis admitted that the tennis elbow had limited his power-hitting in his most recent game against Knight Riders, but he still found a way to pump the ball over the top in the PowerPlay. He was responsible for 40 of the 48 runs Kings had made in the first six overs. Du Plessis extended his tally to 57 off 36 balls before Andre Russell had him holing out.