I Don't Think South Africa Is Favorites Going Into T20 World Cup: Faf Du Plessis

Saint Lucia Kings is in great form in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League(CPL) 2021 lately and part of its success credit will go to captain Faf Du Plessis, who is making his comeback to cricket after over a three-month break due to a freak concussion injury. 

The 37-year-old has so far scored 277 runs in nine CPL matches while averaging 34.62. He smashed a century against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots as well. 

Faf Du Plessis talked to Cricketnmore in an exclusive interview about his CPL journey so far, his friendship with MS Dhoni, and South Africa's chances in the upcoming T20 World Cup. 

Q- How challenging is it to be the captain of Saint Lucia Kings? 

A - No real difficulties, it's been a very easy squad to get to know. I suppose the only challenge was initially we didn't had enough time together before the tournament, we only had one practice together as a full squad, so that's not ideal but that's how we have to deal with covid and bubble and stuff like that. It took us about a week to know everyone and obviously for me coming from outside took a little bit of time to understand players game better but thankfully we are sitting in a really good place, the guys are playing some good cricket 

Q - You have replaced Darren Sammy as the captain of the Saint Lucia Kings, are you guys missing him on the field? 

A - He's a big shoes to fill in terms of guy that's always captained this franchise very well and been here since the beginning. Very honored to take up the responsibility of that, he's been great behind the scenes he has helped me a lot getting to understand the players a little bit better, unfortunately, he's been stuck in his room for most of his time with covid and stuff so we haven't seen too much of him but yes its a great addition to having him still with the squad even though he's not playing. 

Q - You are in amazing form, you played a great knock of 120 in just 60 balls against St Kitts and that century would have boosted your confidence going into the IPL in the next few weeks..

A - It was nice to get an innings going. Obviously, I haven't played a lot of cricket in the last 3 months so it's good to get back some form obviously as you mentioned the IPL coming up.. I had a really good first half of IPL so I'm hoping to continue with that and make sure I keep playing the innings where we can get CSK some more victories.

Q - Going into the second phase of IPL, how do you rate CSK's chances this season?

A - I think the chances are very good, we have played very well this year, 1st or 2nd in the points table, have nice balance to our squad. I think playing in India suits our team a little bit more than playing in Dubai but in saying that our squad is better than last year in terms of having more options for Dubai. 

Q - T20 World Cup is in October, what are your hopes with South Africa this time?

A - I don't think we are favorites, there are few other teams that are a lot stronger than South Africa, West Indies is very strong, England is very strong, India is very strong. Probably these three are the favorites. We know that Pakistan can produce some magic on any day so our chances aren't the best but South Africa will always give their best shot and you never know in a tournament like that a couple of guys start performing they get the confidence and then it's anyone's game so I'll never write south Africa off. 

Q - We have heard you and MS Dhoni talk a lot on and off the field, can you tell us more about the extent of the friendship?

A - We always had a very experienced team at Chennai. Going back, I think there was one stage we had four international captains playing so we always had very good leadership in the group and strong cricketing brain, MS has used that always. In the last 2-3 seasons myself and him talk a lot on the field but obviously, I stand on the boundary all the time, if I see something different, I run up to him and give my suggestion, sometimes he takes, sometimes he doesn't. It's good to have that relationship where we can talk to each other and make sure to try to put the best plans together. 

Q - Coming back to the T20 world cup, who according to you will be the trump card for South Africa? 

A - We are relying very heavily on Quinton de Kock for runs, so he's the obvious one with the bat. I think with the ball, Nortje is gonna be a good x-factor in Dubai he's done well in IPL there last year. I think Shamsi might surprise a few people. Last 12 months he's on top of his game he's the number 1 T20 bowler in the world so I think these three will be my guys.