From the 90s, until the early 2010s, the actual strengths of all teams in international cricket was determined, based on their performances against Australia.
And it applied to every department of the game, especially batting. While some batters had horrendous records against the Australians, few came out with flying colours, namely VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, and now Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
The name of ‘birthday boy’ Faf du Plessis came into international reckoning after his heroic knock against Australia at Melbourne, back in 2012.
Du Plessis scored a majestic 78 on his debut in the first innings and helped Proteas save a match by salvaging a draw with his fourth-inning knock of 110. Notably, he faced 376 deliveries during his match-saving effort.
Since then, there has been no looking back for Du Plessis in all formats of the game as he became the first South African to score a ton in all three formats of the game. He continued his rich form against Australia in ODI cricket, averaging a whopping 52.6
Later, Faf was appointed the captaincy of the South African team and had his own set of challenges as the skipper. Amidst retirement of legends, migration of players through Kolpak deals, and internal turmoil within CSA, Du Plessis did the hard yards with a team in transition.
Also, Faf booked a special place in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Along with AB de Villiers, Du Plessis, who stepped down from captaincy earlier this year, is one of the most respected cricketers in modern-day cricket.
On his 36th birthday, let’s have a look at some of Du Plessis’ glorious hits over the fence, during one of his knocks at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
No big deal … just a one-handed six OVER COVER from birthday boy Faf du Plessis during his century against Australia last summer 😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/LQvsEHq1f1
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 13, 2019
