A cricketer, no, a soldier, no, a leader, no wait… an inspiration; Faf du Plessis will always be to me, one of the greatest captains ever, writes Khalid Mohidin.
When I look at Francois du Plessis with his perfectly quaffed hair and a friendly smile, it’s very difficult to not like him. His open and welcoming disposition made him easy to talk to and comfortable to be around.
Me as a young journalist, shaking in my boots, felt gradually more comfortable when talking to him for the first time. His relaxed demeanour made any nerves I had evaporate instantly.
As a captain of our beloved Proteas, I can only imagine that he did the same to the players around him.
When I started this new publication, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the CSA Awards and there Faf stood, waiting to be interviewed. I walked up to him and we had an amazing chat. On a night about them, he was selfless in his answers and always spoke highly of his teammates. He made me believe in him and the Proteas.
Loyalty is important to me and boy was he loyal. Through all the turmoil with CSA – Haroon Lorgat and Altaaf Kazi leaving, senior players around him leaving and the internal politics – Faf stood strong and took it upon himself to shoulder the responsibility of keeping our cricket fraternity together. He answered the media honestly and openly, never showing disrespect or irritation to anything thrown at him.
As a captain, he has achieved amazing things.
He kicked off his Test captaincy in 2016 with consecutive series wins in New Zealand, one in Australia and a 3-0 whitewash over Sri Lanka during the 2016/17 season.
As a 50-over captain, he won 17 out of his first 20 games – this included home series wins against Australia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
He amazingly achieved the double over Australia in Tests and ODIs. Not many captains have achieved that in World Cricket.
I will agree that his overall record as skipper doesn’t scream out at you:
- Tests – Won 18, Lost 15 matches out of 36
- ODIs – Won 28, Lost 10 matches out of 39
- T20I – Won 23, Lost 13 matches out of 37
Maybe the downfalls – humiliation against Sri Lanka, India, England and in the World Cup – was too much for the public to bear.
But his win ratio is not, to me, what made him a fantastic captain.
The word “Ubuntu” has been thrown around quite a bit in South Africa – Togetherness; I am because we are. This is a quality that Du Plessis demanded in all the teams he has captained.
According to my frame of reference, it was always about the bigger picture for him. How he was going to improve on the team culture. How he was going to inspire youngsters by helping them settle in. How he was going to make sure that the Proteas were a team that represented the country in the best way possible on and off the field.
I was particularly impressed with his decision to captain the Paarl Rocks in the Mzansi Super League. In their second season of the competition, he led the team to victory. He gave the people of Paarl something to be proud of and injected hope into a small town longing for something to believe in. He could have chosen any other franchise, but he made Paarl his team, from the moment the MSL came into fruition.
A human is judged on how they react when they are down. And instead of turning his back on his country and thinking about himself, Du Plessis stepped down as captain and remained available for selection as a player, if the coaches and selectors felt he is still needed.
That for me is a selfless act from the former skipper, and even without the reins, I feel that his influence on the future generations will forever be in play.
To me, Faf has helped me grow as a journalist. Whenever I’ve asked him tough questions whether it was one-on-one or in a press conference, he always tried to put in a little more effort when answering it. He might not know that he did that, but there have been many stories and interviews with him that helped me as an aspiring journalist gain more confidence, thanks to his honesty when answering my questions.
Faf, in the few words that I can muster together as a tribute to you – Thank You. You have been an inspiration and role model in the way that you’ve portrayed yourself as a cricketer, a captain, a leader, a soldier, a human being, a father, a friend and a husband.
You will forever be remembered by me as one of the greatest captains in sport.
Check out my first exclusive interview with Faf du Plessis as Paarl Rocks captain:
Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
