'Break down with Mark Boucher led to my Test retirement'- Faf du Plessis

Faf du Plessis [Source: Twitter]

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis made a striking revelation about his reasoning behind his early retirement from Test cricket in 2020. Du Plessis pinned the blame on the head coach Mark Boucher after their relationship soured during South Africa's England tour in 2019.

In his autobiography 'Faf: Through Fire', the former opener revealed that he was disappointed by Boucher and Cricket South Africa's administration under Graeme Smith to back him after his comment on dropping Temba Bavuma, which faced media outrage.

​Faf on Boucher and Smith

"I needed someone to back me up in the media, and Graeme and Mark were best positioned to clear the air and show public support for their national captain who was dealing with head- and tailwinds simultaneously. When Mark attended a press conference while this storm was raging, he didn’t do that."

By the end of the England tour, the captain and coach relationship was completely tattered, and du Plessis felt disconnected from the team.

In the following days, du Plessis and Boucher drifted further away, and the final nail in the coffin came during Pakistan's tour of South Africa.

Faf on retirement

"He never responded to my message, nor did he contact me after the announcement had been made. His silence confirmed to me that I had made the right decision to retire from Tests."

The RCB captain played 69 Tests for the Proteas scoring 4,193 runs with 10 tons and 21 half-centuries. 

Boucher is coaching South Africa in his last international assignment in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022.

Du Plessis also claimed in his book that Boucher, Smith and chief selector Victor Mpitsang ghosted him after he made himself available for the T20 squad after Test retirement. 

Also Read: 'All credit to Kohli and Pandya' - Babar Azam hails Indian duo