Faf du Plessis, who has been out of cricket for the past three months after being concussed during the Pakistan Super League in June this year, feels that he is now standing on the last girdle before making a comeback when he leads st. Lucia Kings against Jamaica Tallawahs in their first game of the Caribbean Premier League at Warner Park on August 27.
“Today is the last hurdle when [I am] just making sure I pass the full practice at full intensity. And if I do that, then I'll be ready to play,” du Plessis was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.
Talking about missing crucial three months including The Hundred, the former South Africa skipper said, "I went over for the first match [in the Hundred] to try and play, but I still suffered quite severe concussion symptoms quite badly and especially with the batting it got worse," he said.
"It's been three or four weeks since then [during] which I have worked hard in trying to get back to normal with a good rehab programme, and specialists in England helped me with,” added the 37-year-old.
Saying that it has been tough three months away from cricket, the player who has applied his trade all across the world in the shorter format feels that there is a lot of cricket to come this year and he wants to remain fit for it all.
"I didn't expect it to take this long and I also didn't expect it to be quite as severe. But I feel like I am at the end of it, which really is pleasing for me. There's a lot of cricket this year that I still need to play," he said.
“For winning the match, du Plessis said that he would rely on the brains of coach Andy Flower and icon mentor Daren Sammy. "On the field, I would rely a lot on the other players to help me. Daren Sammy is one of those guys, he is a very experienced leader within the side so we will tap into his plan a lot,” he said.
“Andy has worked with the side as well, so we'll tap into his brain a lot. And then on the field, you rely on your experience as a captain to make those instinctive, gut decisions that you would need to make when you know it is so hard in the middle,” added du Plessis who would be looking to make an impact this time around having previously played for St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots previously in the CPL.