Du Plessis buoyed by “exciting” brand of cricket from South Africa

Faf du Plessis is excited by the set of players that has won South Africa the ongoing ODI series in Sri Lanka, and it’s led him to set eyes firmly on the upcoming World Cup next year.

“There are a few young faces playing fearless cricket. To beat Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka three times in a row is no mean feat,” du Plessis said on his injury-triggered early return from Sri Lanka on Friday (August 10). “We are starting to answer quite a few of those questions.

“[There’s] a lot of emphasis on the way we play and how we want to play. The vision myself and the coach [Ottis Gibson] have is all about how we are going to win the World Cup. I think you can see the guys are playing an exciting brand of cricket.”

Someone like Reeza Hendricks stood out with his superb hundred in the third ODI, staking a claim for the No.3 spot. There have been a few red flags though, like a fluffed run-chase in the fourth ODI and Aiden Markram’s recurrent struggles against spin, but the form of senior players like Hashim Amla and JP Duminy has more than made up for it.

“There are still a few things that need to happen over the course of the next six months to a year,” du Plessis confessed. “I see that as a great opportunity, especially for the younger guys.

“The experienced players don’t need more experience. It is about getting the younger guys as much experience as possible. Even if that means if there are one or two series where we rest the more senior players, just to get the younger players more experience.”

As good as the batting has been, it is South Africa’s pace attack that has been outstanding, delivering on typically flat Sri Lankan wickets to set up wins.

“I am really excited about our opening bowling combination: KG [Kagiso Rabada] and Lungi [Ngidi]. That’s very nice for us. They strike and they take wickets,” du Plessis said. “There are some nice young batters coming through, which is putting pressure on the more experienced batters. Obviously, when AB [de Villiers] retired, that forced us to change a few things, which is why I moved to No 4 – just playing around with one or two things to see what is our best combination.”

In du Plessis’s absence, it’s Quinton de Kock who’s in charge of the ODI team. Like it was for Markram in the home ODI series against India, du Plessis sees the Sri Lanka series as a great opportunity for de Kock to learn with the captain’s hat on.

“We felt that when Graeme [Smith] left, there were no real opportunities for young leaders in the team to get one or two occasions where they could captain without being the full-time captain,” du Plessis said. “You can use that opportunity to learn. There are two or three young guys in the team who have some leadership capabilities.

“With guys like Quinton, it’s more about developing their personalities and character. Someone like Quinton will grow a lot just by getting extra responsibility. It doesn’t mean that he will be captain in the future or he won’t – we just see an opportunity for him to grow as a player. When I do eventually come back, hopefully he will be better off for it with a better understanding of what it’s like to be a senior player in the team.

“As a player, it’s easy to just focus on your own game and when you are captain you don’t have that luxury, so this will teach him a different side of cricket.”

All said, du Plessis’s return to captaincy may not be as quick as anticipated. The shoulder injury, which he sustained during the third ODI, is set to demand a lengthy recovery period that can see him miss the Zimbabwe series, that comprises of three ODIs and three T20Is, with the first match starting September 30.

“It’s important to get the shoulder as strong as possible,” du Plessis said. “Playing against Zimbabwe would be nice but an extra few weeks (of recovery) would be good. I was under pressure before the India series but I managed to get through it. No disrespect to Zimbabwe but there’s a lot cricket still to be played. The long-term goal is the most important thing.”

After Zimbabwe, South Africa host Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and du Plessis is looking forward to the challenge the subcontinent teams will present, especially Pakistan with the kind of seam attack they have.

“Last year was probably my favourite Test cricket year. To win those series back-to-back with fantastic support represented a real high for me,” du Plessis said.

“This summer, Pakistan shouldn’t be underestimated, especially given the seam capabilities they have. They are the subcontinent team with the best seam attack and they’ve got every chance to be successful. That will be a big challenge. And then ODI cricket will take more of the focus, but I’m excited about that.”

© Cricbuzz