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South Africa veteran Faf du Plessis on Wednesday announced his decision to retire from Test match cricket. "My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter," the former South African skipper wrote in a social media post, adding a statement on his decision to quit the longest format of the game. With two T20 World Cups set to happen in the coming two years, du Plessis said that he wants to focus only on T20 cricket in an attempt to help his side lift a World Cup trophy.

Here is Faf du Plessis' Post

"It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket," he wrote in his statement on the decision. "If someone had told me 15 years ago, that I would play 69 Test matches for South Africa and captained 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," he added.

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," du Plessis wrote.

A Colorful Career in Whites

Faf du Plessis donned South Africa colours in as many as 69 Tests, accumulating 4163 runs at an average of 40.02. During the course of his Test career, the 36-year-old scored 10 centuries with a highest of 199 coming last year. Du Plessis announced his arrival in Test match cricket with a fine 78 in the first innings and a century in the second against Australia in Australia in 2012. Faf's last Test came against Pakistan in Rawalpindi earlier this month.

Along with AB de Villiers, du Plessis not only shared a brilliant journey but formed the core of the Proteas middle order. It is perhaps one of the bigger ironies in world cricket that a World Cup trophy has remained elusive from these two greats which Faf continues to chase in the form of T20 World Cup. While India will host one of those events later this year, the event in 2022 is slated to happen in Australia.