Faf not fussed over parting with Proteas
FAF du Plessis posted three poignant pictures during last year’s ICC T20 World Cup on social media.
The first was of himself, dressed swankly as is customary in an allwhite ensemble of cropped jeans and designer T-shirt, holding aloft a glass of champagne with the unique Five Palm Jumeirah night skyline in the background.
The other two showcased him on “date night” with his wife Imari, and with his two daughters frolicking in the Arabian Sea.
It seemed like a man trying really hard to get over an emotional breakup with his beloved Proteas who were launching an assault on the ICC T20 World Cup there in the sandpit of Dubai without their former leader.
Twelve months on, and with another T20 World Cup currently under way in Australia, Du Plessis is much more content and enjoying the next phase of his life.
“I love the Proteas and loved playing for them. But I think that it’s (separation) now happened naturally.
“I was still trying really hard last year, but when last year didn’t happen I knew that chapter was probably closed and almost moved on from that relationship because it was tough. It was almost like that girlfriend that you just can’t let go of... But she’s officially an ‘ex’ now,” Du Plessis told IOL Sport in an exclusive interview.
Du Plessis, 38, has yet to officially retire from T20I cricket, but he doesn’t expect to add to his 50 appearances – 40 of which he was captain – for his country, at least not while current national convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang is still at the helm.
“I don’t think his (Mpitsang) phone is working,” Du Plessis chuckled, when asked if he would be available should there be an SOS call to him in the event there was an injury within the Proteas squad Down Under.
Ahead of meeting Du Plessis – at his home in the plush Silverhurst Estate at the foot of the mountains in Cape Town’s Southern Suburbs – the former national captain had rescheduled a few times due to having to fetch his eldest daughter at school. It’s these “normal” activities that he now cherishes, especially because he hasn’t actually been home much of late as he still plies his trade in the franchise leagues of the faraway Caribbean, India, Bangladesh and England.
“Initially when I retired from Test cricket, it was to be at my best to play the circuit. Obviously at that stage the plan was still to play for South Africa in T20 cricket. But how it unfolded is that it’s just been the circuit and I didn’t foresee it to be this much.
“I’ve been on the circuit for about two years now and I am in a really good space. I’ve just come back from two tournaments in a row, the CPL and the Hundred, and now it’s all about recovery and spending time with the family.”
But don’t for one minute think that the Proteas are out of sight, and therefore out of mind for Du Plessis. He cares deeply about South African cricket.
It is part of the reason he’ll be
leading the Joburg Super Kings next year in the inaugural SA20 League, despite bordering on 40 years of age and his close mate JP Duminy already having graduated to the dugout as head coach of the Paarl Royals.
He desperately wants the Proteas to do well in Australia – a country where Du Plessis is revered and loathed in equal measure, due to his exploits Down Under over the years. And he believes Temba Bavuma’s team have the artillery to get the job done at this T20 World Cup.
Du Plessis’ autobiography, “Faf: Through Fire”, is set to be released on October 28.
It is here that he re-visits the major controversies that formed part of his career, namely the build-up to the 2015 Auckland World Cup semi-final, which is addressed in detail, while, of course, the drama that led to the suspension of Australians Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for their role in the ball tampering Sandpapergate fiasco of the ill-fated 2018 Newlands Test.
The book is by no means as “rowdy” as former Proteas batter Herschelle Gibbs’ “To The Point”, or
even Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography, “KP”, which was scripted primarily to settle scores with former teammates and coaches, but it will expose Du Plessis’ vulnerability.
“The purpose of the book... was always to be as honest as possible. If I am true to that, then I have to revisit a few difficult things in my personal life and career.
“I got into Mintgate and I go into detail [on] Sandpapergate. There is so much that happened in that series and so much that nobody knows. Honesty is really something to me, so I am quite vulnerable in terms of the mistakes I made.”