Faf du Plessis is one of the finest batters in international cricket over the last decade, and certainly of of the most consistent and technically pleasing in the post-Jacques Kallis era. He captained the South African Cricket Team through some of its toughest times and came out on the other side as a great captain, a brilliant player, and a solid leader.
While his impact and influence on world cricket might not be as big as his schoolmate AB de Villiers, du Plessis is among the greatest players from a new style of cricketer, the franchise cricket mercenary. Faf is arguably the greatest franchise cricket player from his country.
Faf du Plessis Stats: Batting
| Format | Matches | Ins. | Runs | B.F. | H.S. | Avg. | S/R | N.O. | 4s | 6s | 50s | 100s | 200s |
| Tests | 69 | 118 | 4163 | 8986 | 199 | 40.02 | 46.32 | 14 | 516 | 21 | 21 | 10 | 00 |
| ODIs | 143 | 136 | 5507 | 6215 | 185 | 47.47 | 88.60 | 20 | 495 | 66 | 35 | 12 | 00 |
| T20Is | 50 | 50 | 1528 | 1137 | 119 | 35.53 | 134.38 | 07 | 140 | 50 | 10 | 01 | 00 |
| IPL | 154 | 147 | 4773 | 3515 | 96 | 35.09 | 135.78 | 11 | 439 | 174 | 39 | 00 | 00 |
Faf du Plessis Stats: Bowling
| Format | Matches | Ins. | Balls | Wics. | Runs | B.Fig | Avg. | Econ. | S/R | 4w | 5w | 10w |
| Tests | 69 | 05 | 78 | 00 | 69 | – | – | 5.30 | – | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| ODIs | 143 | 11 | 192 | 02 | 189 | 1/8 | 94.50 | 5.90 | 96.0 | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| T20Is | 50 | 02 | 08 | 00 | 03 | – | – | 2.25 | – | 00 | 00 | 00 |
| IPL | 154 | 01 | 06 | 00 | 16 | – | – | 16.00 | – | 00 | 00 | 00 |
Faf du Plessis Stats: Fielding
| Format | Matches | Catches |
| Tests | 69 | 63 |
| ODIs | 143 | 81 |
| T20Is | 50 | 24 |
| IPL | 154 | 85 |
Faf du Plessis Career Overview
Francois du Plessis, born on July 13, 1984, has played a major part in South Africa’s continued success in international cricket for the past decade or so. He went to the same Public School in Pretoria as AB de Villiers, and the two became friends at a very young age. But while AB’s international career started at the age of 20, Faf was never fast-tracked to the South African National Team.
From a domestic debut in 2003 for the Northerns to being picked up by Lancashire for county cricket, du Plessis became a veteran in professional cricket before making his national team debut at the age of 26, making his ODI debut against India in January 2011. Over the next two years, he would make his debut across all formats.
He made his name during the 2012-13 tour to Australia, and was even named captain for a three-match T20I series against New Zealand around that time. However, later that year, du Plessis was fined for being found guilty of ball tampering.
In 2014 against the Aussies, he scored three centuries in consecutive matches, and scored a 96 in the fourth. The same year, he broke the record of most international innings played before making a duck, 108. Around this time, Faf du Plessis had become a household cricket name and was considered one of the most consistent lal-format batters.
In 2017, Faf would eventually become the all-format captain of the South African Cricket Team. In the ODIs, he had a remarkable win percentage of 73.68. However, cricket in South Africa saw some of its worst years since returning to international cricket in the early 90s. Around this time, they were not always one of the favourites to win World Cups and other multi-nation tournaments.
However, Faf du Plessis would remain as one of the best cricketers in the world. In 2021, he announced his retirement to focus on the limited-overs formats. And while he hasn’t played an ODI or a T20I since, he is very active in the franchise cricket scene.
Speaking of franchise cricket, du Plessis is one of the greatest franchise cricketers ever. He joined the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL in 2011 and won three titles with that team. He even captained the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He has played for and dominated all the major domestic T20 leagues in the world, from the CPL to the PSL, the Big Bash, the Hundred, SA20, and even the Bangladesh Premier League.
Currently, he is the captain of the Johannesburg Super Kings in SA20 and the Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket.
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