40-year-old Faf du Plessis has no intention of calling it a day on what’s been a glittering career. Now plying his trade as a T20 specialist in the twilight of his career, the former Proteas captain is looking to lead the Joburg Super Kings to a maiden SA20 title.

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape claimed back-to-back titles in the first two editions of South Africa’s premier T20 competition, meaning the rest of the five franchises will be gunning to dethrone the Sunrisers.

The Pretoria-born batter believes he’s still got a lot of cricket in his legs before he calls time on his playing days, hinting that he could still be around for the next five to six years.

Playing professional sport into your forties and beyond is becoming somewhat of the norm in modern sport. A challenge du Plessis is ready to face head-on like he did with some of the world’s best bowlers during his international career. The 40-year-old admitted that playing high level T20 cricket at this stage of his career is all about evolving due to the ever-changing nature of the game.

“The game of cricket is always moving, always evolving and as a player you need to make sure you adjust and move with it” said du Plessis ahead of the season three of the SA20.

Du Plessis is no stranger to making tweaks to his game and lifted the lid on how he’s had to adjust, being at the back end of his career.

“Whether it’s batting – evolving your game you know, from a conditioning side, making sure that you still feel as fit and as strong as possible to do the things that you need to do to be on top of your game at this level. Training for me has also evolved and making sure that my body adapts to what it needs to.”

Despite being in the latter stages of his playing career, du Plessis is of the belief that he can still hang with the best.

The former Proteas skipper revealed he’s always got eyes on the scoring charts in every competition he plays in. Topping the list of run scorers or being involved in that conversation is one of his biggest motivations.

“Every competition that I go to, I do try and set myself a goal of being in the top three run scorers of the competition and that hasn’t changed. That’s a line in the sand that I always try and aim at – more from a drive point of view.”

Du Plessis made a solid start in his side’s first outing of the campaign, scoring 30 runs from 23 balls before he was dismissed. His side went on to win their first encounter, beating the Mumbai Indians Cape Town by 6 runs (DLS Method).

The JSK skipper provided interesting insight into how he maintains his appetite for the game, insisting that time away is the key.

”I just look at being really, really competitive when I play but also then when I’m not playing, is to really get away from the game and making sure I freshen up.”

That time off allows du Plessis to refocus and realign:

“So I don’t get into a position here I feel like ‘uhh, it’s another competition that I have to get myself up for.”

He believes he’s found the balance in terms of ‘competition time’ and ‘off time’ adding that:

“I don’t feel I have to get myself up for anything because I get away from the game a little bit and then I miss it again and then I come back fresh.”

The Joburg Super Kings will be hoping that du Plessis can once again produce the goods with the willow while shining as bright as the team’s yellow kit as they go in search of the SA20 title.

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