IPL 2025: Faf du Plessis refuses to join Delhi Capitals for rest of the tournament - Reports

Faf du Plessis has scored 168 runs in six matches for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025.

Senior hitter Faf du Plessis has formally decided not to return for the rest of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which is a major blow for the Delhi Capitals (DC) ahead of the resumption of the tournament.

Two important South African players will not be in the DC camp for the 18th edition of the IPL, which resumes on Saturday, May 17, after being suspended due to cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan.

In addition to Du Plessis, Donovan Ferreira, a fellow South African, has declined to return to India for the season’s final leg, according to an ESPNCricinfo report.

DC to miss Faf du Plessis’ experience in IPL 2025 finishing stages

Faf du Plessis is not only the opening batter for DC, but also their vice-captain. However, his season was marred by injury as he missed three games after being sidelined due to an undisclosed injury.

Details on the type and severity of the injury were not disclosed by the athlete or the team. The seasoned batter amassed 168 runs at an average of 28.00 across the competition, including two half-centuries in six innings.

Donovan Ferreira, on the other hand, only participated in one game and scored one run while entering as an Impact Player. Him missing remainder of the tournament might not be a huge blow, but his finishing abilities and wicket-keeping might have come in handy for DC.

Du Plessis and Ferreira join Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk in not returning to IPL 2025

Before the duo of Faf du Plessis and Donovan Ferreira, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc decided against travelling to India for the remaining IPL 2025 fixtures as he opted to concentrate towards upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final. With him, Jake Fraser-McGurk also refused to return to India for safety reasons.

DC will have Tristan Stubbs for the league stages, but he will leave before the playoffs as he has been named in the South Africa squad for the ICC WTC 2025 final.

Apart from Stubbs for the league phase, DC’s only foreign players at this point are Dushmantha Chameera and Sediqullah Atal, who took Harry Brook’s position after the latter decided not to participate in the tournament.

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