South African veteran Faf du Plessis declared he has "lots of life left" as a franchise player but said his latest IPL move would be the last chapter of his career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 40-year-old opener made 29 from 18 balls in a one-wicket victory for his Delhi Capitals over Lucknow Super Giants in a Monday night thriller.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Du Plessis, who led Royal Challengers Bengaluru for three years until the end of last season, joined Delhi after the November player auction and was named deputy to captain Axar Patel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Du Plessis won two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings, in 2018 and 2021, but is relishing a new challenge with a team still hunting for their first crown in the T20 tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Lots of life left in the old dog," Du Plessis told commentator and former England player Graeme Swann after Delhi's nail-biting win.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"New team, new challenge for me. I almost see it as a new chapter you can look forward to," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Moving from Chennai to RCB was a really good chapter. Now the last chapter of the book, for however long the pages may be, will be with the new team."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Du Plessis is among a select list of players over 40 and still performing well in the money-spinning tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Chennai icon M.S. Dhoni remains a key player for his team at 43 and said "even if I'm in a wheelchair, they'll pull me along".<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India stars Virat Kohli (Bengaluru) and Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) have also defied age and critics to continue playing at 36 and 37 years respectively.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Delhi wobbled in Monday's chase before impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma rescued them from 65-5 with an unbeaten 66 off 31 balls.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The impact player rule was introduced in the 2023 IPL, to the consternation of critics who said it made the format too batting-heavy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The rule allows a player to be substituted into the starting 11 at any time and most teams have swapped a bowler for a batsman to fuel run chases and take totals past 200.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"A lot of cricketers, they will complain about the new rule in IPL," said Du Plessis.<\/p>\r\n\r\n