Even though Du Plessis stepping down as captain was expected, it certainly didn’t lessen the shock one bit, writes Naeemah Benjamin.

On Monday 17 February, Du Plessis announced that he will step down as captain of the Tests and T20 side with immediate effect.

After the 3-1 drubbing against England in the Test series, he reiterated that the T20 World Cup happening in October/November 2020 was still his benchmark with regards to when he’ll make his decision to hand over the reins.

Quinton de Kock was officially named as his successor in the One Day Internationals. It came as no surprise that CSA were exploring leadership options when De Kock led the Proteas in the T20I’s in India last year.

The 35-year-old cited a need to take a step back from captaincy in order to help facilitate the emergence of the next generation of leaders within the team under the new stewardship of Quinton de Kock.

Du Plessis would like to concentrate on contributing to the team as a batsman and senior player, who will offer guidance and advice to the new leadership group as part of their succession planning.

His captaincy might have taken a dip in the recent months, as did his batting in the longer format of the game, but he remains a crucial part of South Africa’s lineup. He’s the glue that holds the middle order together and if there’s any hope for the Proteas at the T20 World Cup, he’ll play a huge part of it.

Du Plessis has captained South Africa in a total of 112 international matches across all three formats, since December 2012 when he led South Africa for the very first time against New Zealand in a T20 series. The hosts won that three-match contest 2-1. Since then, he has scored 5 101 runs in all formats as captain amassing 11 centuries and 28 half-centuries.

“The last few weeks of rest away from the game have given me a lot of perspective on the great privilege and honour I have had in representing and leading my country in the three formats of this wonderful game,” said Du Plessis.

“It has been a rewarding, sometimes tough and other times a lonely road, but I would not replace the experience for anything, because it has made me the man that I am proud to be today.”

It’s so easy to focus on recent events and forget all that he as captain had to endure. Also all the good memories the Proteas gave us under his leadership.

After the retirements of AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn etc. He stuck around with an inexperienced side.

Rebuilding phases are hard and there’ll be many failures before eventually reaping the rewards but he chose to stick with his team.

He was a bold leader, fearless and the players strived under his leadership. His” bromance” with Kagiso Rabada in particular always stood out.

Who remembers his cheeky declaration in Adelaide after the mintgate debacle..?

He led his troops to 18 wins out of 36 Tests but in the recent year, the cries for Faf to step down got louder with every series.

In February 2019, Sri Lanka became the first Asian team to beat SA in Tests on home soil, followed by a horrendous tour to India, and the final nail in the coffin was the 3-1 loss vs England in January 2020 which saw the Proteas lose back to back home Test series’.

In 2016, he led the side to a 5-0 inbound ODI series and 2-1 outbound Test series victory against Australia in 2016. He also led the side when they beat India 2-1 and a couple of weeks later thrashed Australia 3-1. He’s the only South African captain to have won home and away series against Australia in both Tests and ODI’s.

He won 28 out of the 39 ODIs and 25 wins from 40 T20I’s.

One could say the writing was on the wall since the dismal 2019 Cricket World Cup where the Proteas only managed 2 wins out of 9.

With everything that has happened in the past 12 months regarding cricket in South Africa, no one has had to bear the brunt of it as much as he did.

“I have strived to lead the team with dignity and authenticity during exhilarating highs and devastating lows,” he said.

“I have given my everything during my tenure. I have never been one to throw in the towel and do believe I am putting the team first and believe we have to stick through the tough times to get to the good times.

“In a perfect world I would have loved to lead the team in the Tests for the rest of the season as well as the T20 World Cup, but sometimes the most important attribute of a leader is to be selfless.

“I am healthy, fit, energised and motivated and certainly see myself playing an important role in the squad for as long as I continue putting in winning performances for the team.”

I think I can speak for the majority of South African Cricket Fanatics out there in saying that we will miss your leadership.

Thank you for amazing tenure as captain of the Proteas.

Photo: EPA/Dave Hunt