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IPL a distraction for players: Du Plessis

Last Updated 23 January 2018, 19:01 IST

Trust BCCI to get their timings wrong or to have skewed priorities. In the midst of one of their biggest Test series, they are having the Indian Premier League Player Auctions.

As many as 578 players from across the world will go under the hammer in Bengaluru on January 27 and 28, the last two days of the third Test. Barring Virat Kohli (RCB), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH), Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah (all MI) none of the other Indian players in South Africa have been retained while only AB de Villiers (RCB) and Chris Morris (DD) have been retained from the hosts' team.

South African skipper Faf du Plessis admitted it was a distraction as the league plays a big part in their lives.

"Well we don't have our phones, so it's difficult to check," he said. "There will be distractions, that is normal, it's human. The IPL plays a big part in all of our lives. For the (team) management and myself, it's important to make sure we keep the focus and the energy driving towards the Test match. And at the end of the day's play, if we want to talk about the auction a little bit, we can do that but to make sure that the next day, when it's Test match time again, we are switched on and focused."

Du Plessis also expressed his disbelief that India have changed their side in so many matches. "That was surprising. I don't see how we will ever be able to do that. We try to have a bit of consistency, string together a team. It's obviously worked for India in India."

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(Published 23 January 2018, 18:58 IST)

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