Faf du Plessis appointed captain of Johannesburg Super Kings (JSK) in South Africa T20 league: Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis will be back in the yellow of the Super Kings. But not for Chennai; the former CSK opener will lead the Johannesburg Super Kings (JSK), who are also owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited (CSKCL), in the SAT20 tournament, Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) newly launched T20 league, which has all its six teams owned by IPL franchise owners.
Du Plessis, who played over 100 games in 7 years for CSK but was released by them ahead of the mega-auction for the 2022 season, rejoins the Super Kings group and will captain their Johannesburg franchise.
“I have an extremely lucky and long relationship with Chennai. When the opportunity presented itself again, I was extremely happy with that. I think it’s going to be (the SA20 league) incredibly crucial for the sustainability of South African cricket. I’ve almost been seeing first hand the difference that league cricket can have an impact on a country’s cricket,” du Plessis said.
“Certainly been involved with the IPL for the last 10-11 years. You see the difference that it makes to the young generation and the young players, especially in that Indian cricket team and environment.”
CSKCL CEO Kasi Viswanathan said: “Faf has been a backbone of Chennai Super Kings in the IPL for the last 10 years. He has been one of the most consistent players for our team.
Not just Du Plessis, but most of the band at CSK is roped in for JSK. CSK’s head coach Stephen Fleming is named the head coach for Jo’burg.
The former New Zealand skipper has been associated with CSK since the start of the IPL, first as a player in the first season and then as a coach from second year onward.
Further, Eric Simons and Albie Morkel, who have worked with CSK, are appointed as assistant coaches to Fleming; Tommy Simsek as physio, Gregory King as trainer, and Russell Radhakrishnan as manager.
Stephen Fleming was delighted to have familiar faces from CSK at JSK.
“When you get people that you feel really comfortable with, the environment and who you’re with, the culture develops a lot quicker,” Fleming said in a video on CSK’s Youtube channel. “And once you start to get that cohesion and those connections, the longer you can stay together or the more often you can get together, we think there’s an advantage in that. Our relationships runs deep and it hurts when we lose players and it’s exciting when we gain new players but relationships are really important and the support staff have been together…the thread of CSK runs pretty deep.
“Thankfully, through an owner and an ownership that really understands cricket and gives us the opportunity to explore these leadership styles, we’re able to have a really good model that allows people to feel comfortable and be the best they can be, achieve as much as they can in their time with us.”
Apart from du Plessis, JSK has signed Maheesh Theekshana, Moeen Ali, Romario Shepherd and Gerald Coetzee.
