South African star Cricketer Faf du Plessis has withdrawn himself from the upcoming Lanka Premier League 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns emerging with its new variant Omicron.
Du Plessis, who was initially drafted by Jaffna Kings as their overseas icon player, has decided to make himself unavailable for the tournament as he wants stay back with his family members amid the spread of COVID-19 new variant Omicron.
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Explaining the reasons for his withdrawal from the tournament, Du Plessis thanked the owners and management for understanding the situation and promised fans that he will be joining the tournament in coming years.
“The last week has been difficult because of the decisions I had to take with regards to my participation in the LPL. With the new strain of COVID-19 that is spreading throughout the world, international travel has had a lot of challenges. South Africa was placed on many red lists and most airlines stopped flights into and out of South Africa. My decision was based on the fact that I have a family at home that I already spend a lot of time away from and I cannot risk being in a situation where I am in a country away from my family and not being able to get to them. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the owners and management of Jaffna for their understanding of my situation and hopefully I would be able to go back and play in the tournament in the future,” Du Plessis said in a statement.
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The management of Jaffna Kings set to make the announcement of the replacement player of Du Plessis tonight.
The second edition of Lanka Premier League set to kick off tomorrow (05th December) at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium with the defending champions Jaffna Kings taking on runners-up of previous edition Galle Gladiators.
