Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis announces retirement from Test cricket
Johannesburg, Feb 17: Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis on Wednesday announced his retirement from Test cricket to focus on the shorter formats with T20 being his priority.
The 36-year-old made the announcement through a statement on his instagram page.
"It has been a year of refinement in the fire for us all. Uncertain were the times but they brought clarity for me in many aspects. My heart is clear and time is right to walk into a new chapter," du Plessis posted.
"It has been an honour to play for my country in all formats of the game but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket."
Du Plessis said his focus now shifts to T20 cricket but ODIs will also remain a part of his plans.
"The next two years are ICC T20 World Cup years. Because of this my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be.
"I strongly believe I have a lot to offer to the Proteas in this format. This does mean that ODI cricket is no longer in the plans, I am just making T20 cricket priority in the short-term," he said.
Du Plessis played 69 Tests, scoring 4163 runs at an average of 40.02 including 10 hundreds and 21 fifties.
He stepped down as South Africa's Test and T20 captain last year after taking over from the charismatic A B de Villiers back in 2016.
"If someone had told me 15 years ago, that I would play 69 Test matches for South Africa and captain the side, I wouldn't have believed them."
"I stand in a place of utmost gratitude for a Test career full of blessings bestowed on me. Every high and low has shaped me into the man I am proud to stand up as today," he added.
Du Plessis had wanted to say goodbye to the longest format after the home series against Australia scheduled later this month but it has now been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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IndiGo cancels over 60 flights from Bengaluru despite CEO claiming operations stable
Mumbai (PT): IndiGo on Wednesday cancelled over 60 flights from Bengaluru Airport, despite Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers claiming on December 9 that the airline's operations were back on track.
IndiGo has cancelled 61 flights on Wednesday, including 35 arrivals and 26 departures, a source said.
On Tuesday, after the government slashed IndiGo's winter flight schedule by 10 per cent or around 220 flights of the nearly 2,200 approved per day, and IndiGo cancelled 460 flights from six metros alone, Elbers claimed that the airline was "back on the feet" and its operations were "stable."
He also said that lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, without giving any specific numbers, but remained tight-lipped on the issue of compensation to those whose flights were abruptly cancelled, hugely delayed or rescheduled without their consent.
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As per the Civil Aviation Ministry's passenger charter, airlines are liable to pay compensation to passengers for flight delays or cancellations under certain situations. Also, airlines have to provide this compensation automatically without passengers having to request it.
IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights nationwide after failing to plan for tighter safety regulations, causing severe hardships for passengers, driving up airfares on other domestic carriers and creating chaos across airports pan-India.
After the situation, which started on December 1 continued till December 5, the government finally stepped in with the DGCA issuing show-cause notices to Elbers and IndiGo Chief Operating Officer Isidro Proqueras, who is also the Accountable Manager for the Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline, and also ordered capping of airfares.
On Tuesday, the government ordered a 10 per cent cut in the airline's winter schedule.
"The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilising the airline's operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10 per cent has been ordered. While abiding by it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before," Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said.
Earlier that day, the DGCA had issued a notice to the airline, ordering a 5 per cent cut in its schedule and asked it to submit the revised plan by Wednesday 5 pm. PTI IAS DR
