The Ice to Virat's Fire, The Captain Who Desires to Take RCB Higher: Faf du Plessis!
Faf du Plessis in RCB (Source: BCCI/IPL)
He very nearly carries his bat until the end of an inning, and as seen in the contest against Punjab, his team's most recent outing, he hung in there until the eighteenth over. He recently hit a 115-meter six, the longest seen so far in the spectacle that is the Indian Premier League of 2023.
In their game against the Chennai Super Kings, he managed to smoke a 23-ball-fifty, which remains the fastest for an RCB with Virat and Maxwell in the side.
He's already scored 4 fifties from six games, his 84 being not only an individual's highest score but also that of his outfits.
Forget not that in a tournament that has many mighty maulers, whether Harry Brook, Andre Russell, Jos Buttler, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson, Nicholas Pooran and David Miller, the orange cap already sits on his cool head.
What's more?
He's already become the first to go past 300 runs in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League.
Quite frankly, there's no end to what Faf du Plessis can achieve and there are no limits in Faf's world.
At 38, where some have already stepped outside the boundary ropes for good and made their way to cosy comfy furniture in the expert's corner wielding the mic, here's Faf du Plessis wielding the bat with fire and at times, with his muscular and toned stomach wrapped in bandages.
They don't make memes on him; they celebrate his model-like frame. They don't taunt Faf, they submit his efforts with regards and adulation that doesn't always belong to a South African whose name is not Abraham Benjamin De Villiers.
And truth be told, it's no happenstance. None of it is down to accidents or flukes.
At times, a mistimed hit can find its way to a few rows back into the fence, but consistent efforts that yield matchwinning outcomes aren't because of chance.
They are an after-effect of pure rigour and happen when a person willingly drags his body through the drudge.
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis (Source: BCCI/IPL)
In Faf du Plessis's world, the word exhaustion does not exist. And even as there may be spots of pressure, there's never an overreaction to it.
The low phases occur, for, after all, it's cricket; its ebbs and flows. But one doesn't see the Protea lad become a victim to it.
Celebrations are expressed through that genuine smile and needless drama makes way for a glimmer of candidness.
Faf du Plessis's world, as firmly evident even on this occasion, there may be momentary pauses, but there are no full stops.
Since the start of his ongoing IPL campaign, Faf's meant business, just like he did for his final season for his former outfit: Chennai Super Kings. He had made some mad number of runs for Chennai back in 2021, 633 of them, to be precise.
However, his Chennai campaign featured sixteen batting appearances.
This time around, the blazing right-hander is already sitting on a tally that reads 343 from just 6 contests.
But the big key difference on this occasion is that Faf isn't playing under any other big name; he's the captain under whose guidance the RCB are treading on a path where it can be seen steady progress is being achieved.
Three wins- and as many losses- from six games is a record that leaves Bangalore with still a lot of scope for improvement. Another win here especially after building on from the stellar result against Punjab would make Bangalore enter the top four.
It's a space that outfits like the Sunrisers or Capitals would part an eye or leg for.
It's still envious despite not being like Gujarat or Rajasthan's remarkable current position.
That the RCB are improving under Faf's able guidance, perhaps best described by the element of thinking and a mix of combinations instead of very in your face emotional expressions, is remarkable news.
That a few more wins will further take them to the deep end of the tournament will be a situation desired by their intrepid fans and perhaps reviled by trollers whose only path to glory is by downing an IPL team.
But regardless, whether or not Virat Kohli scores the mighty runs or whether Maxwell tarnishes bowlers, that Faf is keenly and constantly catering to the RCB cause is inspirational beyond doubt.
Still clearing the cover and deep mid-wicket regions with a familiar flourish and still mauling the vastly overpitched or length deliveries with usual gusto, Faf's actually putting the best of his learnings, whether from CPL or any other domestic T20 league into good effect.
The ability to stay calm despite facing a few quiet or lean overs as evident in the Punjab contest that saw him bat well into the death overs is another added strength of Bangalore's royal dynamo.
Only in the fictional world can bowlers overrule a lineup that has a peculiarly powerful top three; for where facts and Faf are concerned, the fielders, whether in the circle or in the outfield, have their task cut out.
 "Dev Tyagi")
