- Faf du Plessis has warned that international cricket needs to acknowledge the threat of T20 leagues or risk becoming like soccer.
- Currently participating in the PSL, the Proteas veteran argues that decision-makers need to find a "difficult" middle way to prevent players from becoming free agents.
- Already, the West Indies sacrifice some of their best players to play in T20 leagues all over the world and then just get them back for marquee international tournaments.
Faf du Plessis admits he's no prophet, but issued a stark warning that international cricket needs to find a way to remain relevant or risk becoming like soccer.
The Proteas veteran, currently in the UAE where he'll turn out for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League, believes the T20 tournament is just one of various franchise leagues around the world that are steadily pushing other formats towards an existential crisis.
"It's a threat for the international game. The power of the leagues continues to grow year by year. In the beginning there were only two, now we're approaching eight," Du Plessis told a media briefing.
"It's important to try and see what is the best way possible for franchise and international cricket to co-exist, otherwise it can become a real threat."
The 36-year-old stroke-maker can't be accused of not wearing heart on sleeve for the national cause previously, forging a reputation for being one of South African cricket's foremost thinkers and servants.
But he retired from Tests and ODIs earlier this year, opting to focus on still playing in 2021 and 2022's ICC World T20 editions.
"I don't know how something like that (internationals and T20 leagues co-existing harmoniously) would be possible though, it's a huge challenge.
"Maybe, in 10 years' time, cricket will almost be like soccer, where you have your world events in between and all these leagues the rest of the time
"You play in two to four leagues a year and maybe have a window for international cricket. I can't see the future, so it's difficult to predict," said Du Plessis.
One trend that's becoming increasingly more prevalent is the rise of free agents for national teams, a phenomenon started by the West Indies.
Unable to keep some of their best players in the domestic game, they've let men like Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicolas Pooran and Dwayne Bravo play T20 leagues all over the world and then welcome them back for marquee international tournaments such as the World T20.
Ironically, Du Plessis is now reportedly in the same boat.
Having been left out of the Proteas' original T20 squad for the series against the Windies, there are now efforts to get him in the Caribbean by negotiating a tailored pay package.
Du Plessis wasn't awarded a national contract for the new season.
"We've seen a bit of it with the West Indian players, many of them moving away from the national team to T20 leagues. They lost key players. It's starting to happen with South Africa too. You've seen it with guys like Imran Tahir, Chris Morris and even myself," he said."There needs to be a way you can work things out. The strengths and lure of T20 tournaments are growing."