Faf du Plessis: the Captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore

Fondly known as ‘Faf’ by cricket fans worldwide, Froncois du Plessis is a professional cricketer and the former captain of the South African national cricket team.  Named the South African Cricketer of the Year in 2019, Faf du Plessis is one of the best fielders of the world.  

Du Plessis is a right-handed batsman and leg spin bowler. Throughout his career, he has played South American domestic cricket for Northerns and the Titans.

Additionally, he has played matches for Lancashire County Cricket Club, Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant, and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL).  

His ODI debut was in a match against India in January 2011 where he scored an unbeaten 60 runs. He made history with his Test debut, in which he became the fourth South African player to score a century on debut.  

Following his Test debut in November 2012, he was named the captain for T20 of the South African team for the upcoming series against New Zealand. He was also named a full-time skipper in February 2013. 

In 2016, Faf du Plessis took over full-time captaincy for all formats of the game including Test captaincy after former captain and fellow teammate AB de Villiers relinquished the captaincy.  

Personal Life 

Faf du Plessis attended  Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool, a public school located in Pretoria. He attended the school with classmates that later went on to become his fellow teammates like AB de Villliers, Heino Kuhn, and Jacques Rudolph. 

He graduated from the University of Pretoria. Du Plessis is a second cousin of Namibian rugby player Marcel du Plessis, and his father, Francois du Plessis was also a ruby player for the Northern Transvaal.  

He is married to Imari Visser and has two daughters with her. His sister, Rhemi is married to fellow South African cricketer Hardus Vijoen.  

Domestic Career 

Impressed by his performance in the local Nottinghamshire leagues for Mansfield Hosiery Mills and the Lancashire League for Todmorden, Faf was offered a six-month contract with the Lancashire County Cricket Club in 2008 as a Kolpak player by the board members.  

Once the initial stint with the county club was finished, his contract was extended by another three years, however due to changes in Kolpak rules, it was announced that Faf could no longer play for Lancashire.  

In 2011, the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings signed him to play for them.  

In his domestic career, Faf du Plessis has scored 8385 runs in 142 first-class matches. Out of these, he has 17 centuries and 52 half centuries to his name.  

International Career

While circumstances did not allow Faf do play for Lancashire as a Kolpak, it was the same circumstances that gave him the opportunity to make his debut in international cricket format- the 2011 World Cup that was to be held in India.  

He scored a perfect 50 in his ODI debut against India and maintained his good form throughout the tournament, notably pushing the South African team to victory in a high pressure run-chase against the eventual World Champions, India.  

Faf is most known for his partnership with AB de Villiers. In 2015, he scored 380 runs and was only second to AB de Villiers for South Africa’s leading run scorers.  

The 2019 World Cup was the first season in which Faf du Plessis got to lead the South African team. Faf was the only player from his nation to be featured in the top-20 run-getters list, amassing 387 runs in eight innings.  

Faf du Plessis was made the captain of the IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore for the 2022 season.  

 Controversy 

Twice, du Plessis has been found guilty of ball tampering during his international career. The first time was during The Oval Test match in 2013 against Pakistan. In 2016, du Plessis was caught again ball tampering during the Hobart Test match against Australia

Published by : Aditya Andharia 

Edited By : Kritika Kashyap