Faf du Plessis

Francois "Faf" du Plessis, the South African international cricketer and former captain of the Proteas is an all-format cricketer who has played for various franchises all around the world. 

He impressed with a half-century on his ODI debut against India in 2011 and soon enough, found himself in South Africa’s squad for the 2011 World Cup. The middle-order batsman made his Test debut in November 2012 and became the fourth South African to score a Test century on debut. 

Ahead of the 2012 IPL, Faf was introduced in the cash-rich league for the first time and was sold to then champions CSK for INR 55 lakhs. Du Plessis had a fabulous start for CSK wherein he went on to have a very successful debut season scoring 398 runs. His energy and dedication made him a perfect T20 package for any captain.

In 2013, Faf scored his second Test hundred against India while chasing 458 runs. South Africa came close to the target but ended with a shortfall of 8 runs. The match ended in a draw with South Africa 450/7, Faf scored 134 runs off 309 balls and emerged as a dependable red-ball cricketer.

Faf came into the limelight in an ODI tri-series with Australia and Zimbabwe in April 2014. In this series, Faf scored three consecutive centuries and failed to score another hundred in a row by just a shortfall of 4 runs. In a T20I match against West Indies, Faf became only the second batsman to score a century in the shortest format. He scored 119 runs from 56 balls in a resounding victory against the Men in Maroon.

Before the start of the 2016-17 Australia tour of South Africa, AB de Villiers was ruled out due to an injury and the management chose Faf to lead the side. In the second match of the series, he became the second captain after Tillakaratne Dilshan to score a century in all three formats. In December 2016, Ab de Villiers stepped down permanently as the Test captain and Faf inherited the role and in the following year, De Villiers stepped down as the skipper from all three formats, and Du Plessis took charge.

Du Plessis has been found guilty twice for ball-tampering. The first time was against Pakistan in 2013 where he rubbed the ball against a zip on his trouser and was fined fifty percent of his match fees. The second one against Australia was a bizarre incident in which he used some kind of mint to rub on one side of the ball to make it stick. His teammate Hashim Amla defended him in a statement stating that the tampering claims were a ‘joke’ and ‘ridiculous’.

Ahead of the England series in January 2020, Quinton de Kock was appointed as the ODI captain replacing du Plessis who was ignored by the selectors. The following month, du Plessis announced that he will be stepping down from the captaincy in both Tests and T20Is with immediate effect to allow a new generation of leaders to develop in the side.

After leading the proteas for 36 Tests as a skipper, Faf du Plessis announced his retirement from Tests on February 17, 2021.

Faf’s batting is mixed with diligent classic and defensive style. Du Plessis loves to spend time on the crease, he follows slow and steady wins the race manner by switching gears according to the match conditions. He has been one of the most consistent players for South Africa in this generation. 

(As of March 2021)