Published: Sep 23, 2015, 03:53 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 24, 2015, 12:25 PM (IST)
Faf du Plessis is an integral part of the South African setup and his role in the Proteas’ tour of India will be extremely vital. Du Plessis is a key figure in the batting line-up in Tests, One-Day Internationals (ODI) and T20 Internationals (T20I), and has experience of playing in India. He is a safe bet coming in at No.3 in all formats. He is one of the mainstays of the batting line-up, which boasts of the likes of Hashim Amla and the dangerous AB de Villiers. There is, however, an outside chance that he will miss the opening T20I fixture against India but there’s no doubt that du Plessis will be key in ensuring that South Africa have a successful tour, says Pramod Ananth.
Du Plessis missed the entire home series against New Zealand due to a knee injury. South Africa certainly missed someone coming in at No.3 and steadying the innings when things didn’t go their way. Du Plessis has done that so well across formats and the team really looks up to him to deliver. With de Villiers coming in after him, it is often that du Plessis’ calm innings sets the platform for de Villiers, and the rest to exploit. When he has a bad day, the rest of the batting line-up finds it difficult to get into any sort of rhythm. READ: Amit Mishra credits positive approach for recall in Indian Test cricket team
Du Plessis has also been handed the captaincy in the shortest format — a responsibility which he has taken up quite efficiently. He averages a staggering 44 and has a strike rate of 111 as captain in matches that South Africa have won. His overall average is over 47, which is among one of the best in the world in the format. Du Plessis is someone who paces his innings really well and plays according to the situation. One will seldom find du Plessis getting out playing a rash shot. He has a good head over his shoulder and carries the team well with him.
Du Plessis is not the typical No.3 that we usually see. He is not someone like Rahul Dravid, who thrived in that position and blocked quite a few deliveries to get his eye in before he would start playing his shots. Du Plessis is one of the new brands of players, who will play a shot if the ball is there to be hit. At the same time, he will not throw his wicket away when there is pressure. The best proof of this has to be the century he scored against India at Johannesburg. Chasing 458 to win, du Plessis surprisingly came in ahead of de Villiers and Jacques Kallis and smashed 134 batting at No. 4, and almost guided his team to a win. Although de Villiers did score a ton, but it seemed like it would be du Plessis who will be the man to take South Africa home. He was unfortunately run out. READ: Stuart Binny endorses Virat Kohli’s opinion of giving a player more chances
With the averages of well over 40 at No. 3 and No. 4, du Plessis has proved that he is one of the most dependable top-order batsmen in the world. If he remains fit, India will have a tough time against him. He has played a lot of matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and is not unfamiliar with the Indian conditions like the others in the South African camp. Du Plessis will look to put his experience to full use in what would be his first international series in India.
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
