Cape Town – Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis says that he is opposed to the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) proposal to cut Test matches from five days to four.

It is widely known that the ICC could decide to shorten the length of Test matches from 2023 onwards and Cricket South Africa (CSA) in a press release on Tuesday stated that they were in full support the move.

READ | CSA fully behind shift to 4-day Test cricket

However, Du Plessis had other opinions on the matter calling for Test cricket matches to remain five days long.

“My opinion is that I’m a fan of Test cricket going on for five days,” Du Plessis told reporters in Cape Town after his side had lost the second Test to England.

“The great draws of the game have gone to five days. I understand that a lot of money is being burned on the fifth day, because so many Test matches are not going five days. There’ll always be an opinion on both and people will sit 50/50 on it.

“I’m still a purest of the game because I’ve been a part of some great draws that have gone five days. And today is no different, there would definitely not have been a result (in Cape Town) on four days on this wicket,” said Du Plessis.

“Yes, not many matches go on to five days. When you’ve got a shattered Ben Stokes running in towards the end of the day after a long spell and we’re just trying to survive that, for me, is what makes the extra day so special.”

England captain Root noted his displeasure at the ICC proposal after England won on Day 5 of the second Test in Cape Town by 189 runs.

“I like five-day Test cricket, I might get in trouble for that,” said Root on Tuesday.

The ICC approved South Africa to host a once off four-day Test match against Zimbabwe in 2017, which the Proteas won.

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has also opposed to the notion of four-day Test matches, saying that it isn’t “fair to the purest format of the game”.