Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

South African captain Faf du Plessis steps down

Faf du Plessis, 35, has stepped down as South Africa Test and Twenty20 captain, after leading the team in 112 matches across all formats since 2012.

He made his international debut for South Africa in 2011. Quinton de Kock replaced Du Plessis as one-day captain in January 2019.


“It has been the greatest honour of my life to lead my country,” he said.

“South African cricket has entered a new era. New leadership, new faces, new challenges and new strategies. I remain committed to playing in all three formats of the game for now as a player and will offer my knowledge and time to the new leaders of the team," he added.

Du Plessis was rested for both the recent one-day international and T20 series against England.

Du Plessis scored 115 runs at an average of 16.42 in the Test series against England and has not made a century for more than a year.

His announcement came just eight months before the Twenty20 World Cup, which runs from 18 October to 15 November.

"The last few weeks of rest away from the game have given me a lot of perspective on the great privilege and honour I have had in representing and leading my country in the three formats of this wonderful game,” Faf du Plessis said in a statement.

After first captaining South Africa in a T20 series against New Zealand in 2012, Du Plessis was named permanent T20 skipper in 2013. In 2017, he assumed the full-time captaincy of all three formats, replacing AB de Villiers.

Du Plessis played 65 test matches and scored 3,901 runs with an average of 39.80. He made 5,507 from 143 ODIs, with the best score of 185. He got 1,363 runs from 44 T20I.

More For You

King Charles

The palace said in a statement that after receiving scheduled treatment in the morning, the king had 'temporary side effects that required a short period of observation in hospital.' (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

King Charles cancels engagements after cancer treatment side effects

KING CHARLES has postponed his engagements for Thursday and Friday after experiencing side effects from his ongoing cancer treatment, Buckingham Palace announced.

The palace said in a statement that after receiving scheduled treatment in the morning, the king had "temporary side effects that required a short period of observation in hospital."

Keep ReadingShow less
OpenAI Restricts ChatGPT’s Image Feature After Viral Ghibli Trend

Altman addressed the impact of the popular Ghibli-style image trend on OpenAI’s resources

Getty

OpenAI limits ChatGPT’s image generation feature amid viral Ghibli image trend

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has announced temporary limitations on the company’s image generation feature in response to overwhelming demand driven by a viral trend. On Thursday, Altman addressed the impact of the popular Ghibli-style image trend on OpenAI’s resources, particularly its reliance on GPUs (graphics processing units). Altman revealed that the surge in demand for ChatGPT’s image generation tool has led to significant strain on the company’s infrastructure, prompting the introduction of temporary speed limits for users.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Altman shared the company’s response to the unexpected demand, stating, “It’s super fun seeing people love images in ChatGPT, but our GPUs are melting. We are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. Hopefully won’t be long! ChatGPT free tier will get 3 generations per day soon.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Salman Rushdie to release first major work since stabbing
Rushdie was stabbed about 15 times: in the head, neck, torso and left hand, blinding his right eye and damaging his liver and intestines. (Photo: Getty Images)

Salman Rushdie to release first major work since stabbing

BRITISH-AMERICAN novelist Salman Rushdie will publish his first major work of fiction since the brutal stabbing that blinded him in one eye, his publisher said on Thursday (27).

The Eleventh Hour, is a collection of short stories examining themes and places of interest to Rushdie who narrowly escaped death during the 2022 attack. It will be released on November 4, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Aamir Khan’s ‘Laapataa Ladies’ Audition Goes Viral – But He Lost the Role!

Dressed as a cop and chewing paan, Aamir Khan delivers his lines in the viral audition clip from Laapataa Ladies

Youtube Screengrab/Aamir Khan Talkies

Aamir Khan auditioned for ‘Laapataa Ladies’ but lost the role: Video goes viral!

Aamir Khan’s attempt to play a small-town cop in Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies has sparked conversation among fans, thanks to a newly surfaced audition tape. The Bollywood star, who also produced the film, had initially hoped to take on the role of Sub-Inspector Shyam Manohar. However, director Kiran Rao ultimately chose Ravi Kishan for the part, a decision that many now agree was the right call.

The audition tape, shared on Aamir’s recently launched YouTube channel, Aamir Khan Talkies, shows the actor in a police uniform, chewing paan and trying out a rural accent. The video also includes bloopers, giving fans a insider view in to his efforts to embody the character. While Aamir is known for his dedication to roles, viewers were quick to point out that something felt off. Many felt his polished screen presence made him seem out of place as the rustic and rough-around-the-edges cop.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK-business-district-Getty
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London. (Photo: Getty Images)

Economic growth in 2024 slightly higher than estimated: ONS

THE UK economy grew slightly more than first estimated in 2024, according to official data released on Friday, providing a small boost for the government after it revised down its growth forecast for 2025.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product expanded by 1.1 per cent in 2024, up from an initial estimate of 0.9 per cent.

Keep ReadingShow less