Du Plessis stresses on piling pressure on Indian team

Faf du Plessis ()

Cape Town, Jan 8 - After handing India a 72-run defeat in the opening Test at Newlands, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis on Monday focussed on the importance of putting pressure on the opposition in a brief three-match rubber.

Du Plessis also hailed his team for sticking to their plans despite being on the backfoot early on in their first innings. The Proteas were reduced to 12/3 on the opening day before the captain and his predecessor AB de Villiers lifted the team with a 114-run fourth wicket stand.

"It's really important in a three-match series to put the opposition under pressure. Every single time when we needed to stand up through tough periods, we responded beautifully. Didn't plan to be 12/3, but we responded," the skipper said in the post-match presentation.

"Even today, after India got off to a decent start, we stuck to our plans and put great pressure on their batters. The first morning, we expected it to move around for the first hour. That total we felt was just around par. We felt 270 was going to be par.

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