Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has revealed how he had to completely change his game to survive in modern T20 cricket. Faf du Plessis admitted that talent alone is not enough and he has to grow, adjust and sometimes struggle badly before achieving success again.
Faf du Plessis admits he had to reinvent himself in modern T20 cricket
The swashbuckling batsman explained that his own T20 game needed time to grow and evolve with the changing demands of the format as the game was moving faster and bowlers were smarter and teams had better plans.
He admitted that the journey was not easy, as he failed many times in his attempts to improve and sometimes had to move away from his natural strengths to work on his weaknesses. Du Plessis said that going through this difficult phase helped him understand the development process from a player’s perspective.
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Failures and tough times helped Du Plessis move forward
The former South African batsman revealed that he now talks to other players to identify areas where they can still improve because of his experience. He believes that every cricketer thinks about getting better, even if they don’t always say it openly.
“In the format, the issue is you always have to start with yourself first, so my game in T20 cricket also needs a period of development; it needs to evolve with the game. It was a tough journey because you fail and then try to repeat the process. I promise you every player thinks like that; we can’t always say that, but because the belief is there and the ability to move forward,” Faf du Plessis was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo. Yes. I think I can be better at this.”
RCB’s partnership with Virat Kohli boosted du Plessis’s spin development
A big turning point for RCB in the IPL came during his partnership with Virat Kohli. Both du Plessis and Kohli were strong against fast bowling, but that similarity has made them think about becoming more dangerous against spin in T20 cricket.
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He further added, “I went away from that season feeling that I needed to improve my game in attacking spin, because we both had very similar game plans, but because I came back the next season with almost the same kind of development, I could see the same happening with Virat.”
When Virat Kohli’s explosive spin change impressed Faf du Plessis
Interestingly, Du Plessis saw a similar change in Kohli too. The former RCB captain, who once scored at a steady pace against spin, suddenly became explosive and started dominating that stage in the IPL.
He concluded by saying, “On the other hand, Virat’s strike rate against spin suddenly went from a strike rate of 130 to 180, so any player can do that; it’s just an understanding that you have to put your little ego aside a bit and work on your game.”
Notably, Du Plessis, who has over 12000 T20 runs to his name, is yet to officially retire from international cricket, having last played for South Africa in 2020. The former RCB and CSK opener is still active in franchise leagues around the world.
