Faf Du Plessis- A warrior undervalued by everyone....

Faf du Plessis has batted and fielded with a bleeding knee, has scored the most runs in an IPL final featuring Shubman Gill, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Moeen Ali, and Robin Uthappa and now, almost 38, leads a team that has Virat Kohli in it. 

In some ways, Faf defies the norms for what is considered normal. 

For a batter who was never a first rate choice as an opener, it’s opening that he does. 

For a batter who was considered to be a mid-innings repairer and courageous run accumulator, its brute hitting that he does. 

Faf du Plessis - 103 IPL games, 23 fifties, almost 3100 runs and several tired tissues and visibly glowing biceps - is the archetypal prototype warrior we so love. 

Much like a mythical hero we hear about in timeless tales.

Just that he doesn’t have a mace in hand; the standard operating tool for causing havoc is the cricket bat. 

And it’s a rather colourful one at that. Often the handle is pink, sometimes even yellow. Though, it makes perfect sense for a cricketer whose approach to the game is spunky and different much like his personality. 

Several moons ago, away from the IPL storm, when a rip-roaring contemporary of his came visiting South African shores carrying his Indian team along, Faf offered a refreshing welcome to Kohli, then the captain of India. 

No cold handshakes, no deathly stares. 

As the aggressive and in-your-face Kohli marched down the pitch for the toss in the First Test, Faf embraced his opponent with a bear hug. 

You’d reckon the moment would’ve warmed the heart of a cricketer as competitive and unforgiving as Kohli. 

Later, du Plessis would strike a 62 off 104 at the Wanderers, before striking a 63 and 48 at the SuperSport park to help his side deflate India and claim a series victory. 

And that’s what it took - Faf’s ice to Virat’s fire - to neutralise an opponent as imposing as India. 

In all that Faf has done, and he’s done a fair bit - struck a 199 in Tests; seen a dominant power become powerless in the wake of the exits of Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers; thrashed the lone century South Africa hit in the 2019 World Cup; weathered the storm that’s Proteas cricket as a leader - Faf has emerged unscathed. 

His heart must be shaped like a mountain or could possibly be of titanium-make since despite being snubbed away from white-ball cricket, where his irrepressible contributions to Cricket South Africa only brightened everyone’s day, Faf didn’t break down. 

Perhaps the setbacks and indifference bestowed upon a true rock of South African cricket made one of its devoted sons even stronger. 

And he’s showing - not showing off - all that courage in the world’s most talked-about T20 league: The IPL. 

In beginning his 2022 season with a bang, given his 88 reduced the Punjab Kings into poppers, Faf has proven that he’s got much on offer. 

In RCB’s latest outing, du Plessis produced a quickfire 29. 

Less than half a year ago, he found his moment in the Caribbean sun in scoring 120 off sixty deliveries against St. Kitts and Nevis in the CPL 2021. 

As a batter with flair and fire and a captain with a straightforwardly charismatic way with his team, Faf du Plessis has been quick at garnering respect from within the side, as also maintained by Glenn Maxwell. 

Despite the looks of a box office superstar albeit being one who doesn’t carry a starry aura, Faf brings a sense of ease to a setting that can be overwhelming and upon accumulation of losses, even distressing. 

To RCB that headlines news for both - a lack of success in the IPL as also for the massive expectations it carries - Faf brings a sense of order and must it not be forgotten, experience. 

How Faf will lead a team that often suffers at death bowling into the deep end of the tournament is something none of us can tell. 

But what one can say is that his inherent ability to strike pressure with calmness will rub off well on a band of exciting talents, think Harshal Patel, Anuj Rawat, David Willey, Sherfane Rutherford. And that lot. 

Maybe finally, after years of running around big names and astronomical stars to act as leaders - think de Villiers and Kohli - RCB have got the math right this time around. 

Their leader isn’t someone whose mural you’d expect to be placed in a Madam Tussaud’s someday. 

Instead you’d rather be content that one of IPL’s most polarising outfits, so often a punching bag and on fire, has finally found a man who’s at peace with himself and his place under the sun. 

He hits runs for fun but also with a sense of purpose. The aggressive wielding of the bat, the blade coming down from wide of gully, shoulders stiff - not loosened - indicate the readiness to put away the white ball, not merely negotiate with it. 

To most, Faf would seem like this wannabe hunky gym dude possessing a model like a persona when he’s a gifted athlete unafraid to throw himself at everything for his side. 

The sense of ease with which he conducts himself, never hungry for cheap media bytes, a complete stranger to posturing - Faf’s what-you-see-is-what-you-get style has endeared him to tens of hundreds in India. 

His success, if marked in a fanboy speak, is that in a country where de Villiers’ name was chanted in stands, Faf has become the go-to man for the franchise AB himself represented. 

Perhaps a fine reason to hope once again for the Royal challengers Bangalore! 

And all of this is not too bad for someone they called a daddy-aged cricketer, right?