Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar reckoned Faf du Plessis should open the batting for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). On March 12, the Challengers named du Plessis as their new skipper after Virat Kohli relinquished captaincy following the 2021 edition of the tournament.
Gavaskar said that the veteran has a massive responsibility on his shoulders especially after AB de Villiers’ retirement from all forms of cricket last year. De Villiers played 11 seasons for the Bangalore-based team since 2011 and played a plethora of match-winning knocks for them.
Gavaskar, one of India’s greatest batters, said that captaining South Africa in all three formats will help du Plessis in the upcoming T20 league.
Faf du Plessis would want to lead from the front: Sunil Gavaskar
“Loads of captaincy experience, loads of leadership quality you see in Faf du Plessis. I am not surprised at all. Remember, he took South African cricket ahead,” Gavaskar said.
“Big shoes to fill (AB de Villiers’ absence), no doubt about that. Faf du Plessis will open the batting. He would want to lead from the front, show the way. These are exciting times for RCB,” he added.
Du Plessis was second in the list of leading run-scorers in the 2021 IPL. He played for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) where he scored 633 runs from 16 matches at an average of 45.21 and a strike rate of 138.20 with six half-centuries to his name. He was only two runs shy of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who won the Orange Cap with 635 runs under his belt.
On the back of Faf’s brilliance, CSK, led by MS Dhoni, won the IPL for the fourth time. The Yellow Army tried to get him back in the mega auction, but backed off after his price exceeded INR 3.40 crores. From there on, RCB and Delhi Capitals (DC) tried their best to rope him in. In the end, the Challengers secured du Plessis’ services at a price of INR 7 crores.
RCB is yet to yet to get their hands on the IPL trophy, having played the final three times. After being appointed as skipper, du Plessis also praised Kohli and said that his energy on the field holds a lot of significance for the Challengers.
