CSA backtracks, apologises after Instagram gaffe

CRICKET South Africa (CSA) has expressed regret over its “unintentional” omission of former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir from a social media post yesterday morning.

CSA posted a congratulatory message on Instagram to fast bowler Lungi Ngidi for being part of the Chennai Super Kings’ Indian Premier League winning team.

The irony is Ngidi did not play in the final against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai on Friday evening, but Du Plessis had in fact won the Player of the Match award for his breathtaking 86 off just 59 balls to spearhead the Super Kings charge to their fourth IPL title.

Tahir also did not play in the final, but was part of the Chennai squad.

The Instagram post, which has since been deleted by CSA, prompted a response from Du Plessis, who stated “Really…” before former Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn climbed into the debate, posting that it was “disgusting” that Du Plessis and Tahir had been omitted.

“CSA regrets any unintended harm that may have been caused by the social media post, which went out this morning. There was no intention

to purposefully omit any player. We apologise UNEQUIVOCALLY to all impacted persons,” the CSA’s marketing department stated.

Independent Media understands that CSA has social media guidelines that stipulate that it specifically highlights nationally contracted players in its posts.

Du Plessis and Tahir, who both served the Proteas for almost a decade, are both no longer contracted to CSA as they play as “free agents” in T20 Leagues around the world.

This is the latest incident between CSA and the “free agents” after both Du Plessis and Tahir were left out of the Proteas squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, despite publicly stating their availability for the global tournament.

CSA director Graeme Smith explained their omission at the squad announcement last month.

“When you are working with free agents you have to come together. You have to find that balance that works for both the team and the free agents,” said Smith. “With Faf in particular, we struggled to find that balance.”

Steyn weighed in on this discussion too after the IPL final.

“You have to feel for Faf. I feel for Faf,” Steyn said of his former Proteas captain on ESPN Cricinfo’s T20 Timeout show.

“He is in the country where the T20 World Cup is about to happen and he almost scored 90 in an IPL final and he is going to be on the next plane back to Cape Town in two days. I can’t even talk about it, but it blows my mind.”

South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket also shared some words of wisdom with CSA after it blocked the comments section on the now-deleted post.

“Here’s some advice. Do the right thing. Delete the post and add all the men involved, save yourself the embarrassment and ridicule,” Steyn posted. “CSA opening a can of worms for themselves with their Twitter and Instagram. Whoever’s running those accounts needs a talking too (sic).”