Chris Morris picks du Plessis’ JSK omission as biggest shock of SA20 Season 5

du Plessis captained the Joburg side in all four previous seasons of the competition, until a thumb injury sidelined him in the middle of Season 4. 

Morris believes his former international captain still has a lot to offer despite being 42.

"The biggest omission from the team is Faf du Plessis because I think he still has a lot to offer as a player, but when a new coach in Albie Morkel comes in you have to start looking at the future. Although, I still think Faf would've added some value."

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Morris also says new JSK coach Albie Morkel would have thought long and hard about his squad composition, and the exclusion of experienced campaigners like du Plessis and Imran Tahir. 

Morkel replaces New Zealander Stephen Fleming at the helm, who recently took up a job with the England national team.

He says while there’s a plethora of international stars that are on display at the tournament, their scouting system is also brilliant at identifying young talent through the schools, provincial, and SA U19 pipelines.

"I think every season we have unearthed some fantastic young crickets coming through the system. In competitions like the SA20 Schools, you get to see a lot of youngsters putting their hands up. These are the kind of building blocks we need, and it only takes one performance for someone to take notice of a kind of player we haven't seen before."

South Africa has attempted T20 Leagues before, but none have been as successful as the IPL-influenced SA20. He says the packed stadiums at all the games is a testimony that it has worked domestically, and projects even loftier heights going forward.