Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir showered praise on South African batter Faf du Plessis for his tremendous form in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League. Faf, who opens the batting for the Chennai Super Kings, has so far scored 546 runs in 14 matches with an outstanding average of 45.50.
In a conversation with ESPNcricinfo, Gambhir said that he never rated the former Proteas skipper as a "dangerous T20 batter" and that he has exceeded his expectations. He said that his opinion about Faf was that he won't be able to leave as bigger an impact as the likes of Shane Watson has had on the sides he played in the IPL, but the right-hander has proved all of them wrong.
"I never thought he was that dangerous a T20 batter. Yes, he had got runs for CSK, but he's never had the impact someone like Shane Watson had. He will score those 50 off 40 balls but he cannot hurt the opposition bowlers. He's not going to be an all-out match-winner. If Shane Watson gets runs, he'll get a 100 off 60 balls. So yeah, Faf has definitely exceeded all the expectations, not only of myself but of a lot of other people as well," Gambhir said.
Gambhir also talked about Faf’s great form in Caribbean Premier League where he scored a magnificent century.
“He was in good form even in the CPL. Those who are coming into the play after playing in some league have better chances to do well as IPL is a high-quality tournament. Runs under your belt is always important,” he said.
The Super Kings are going to play their first qualifier on 10th October against Delhi Capitals and they would want their star performer to continue his tremendous form.