Abu Dhabi: Faf du Plessis, former South African captain who played a key role in Chennai Super Kings’ triumph in the IPL this year, is relishing the challenge of leading one of the sides in his debut appearance in the fifth edition of Abu Dhabi T10 League later this month.
“My role as a captain would be to get the team together and create an environment wherein the players are having fun and being themselves. Batting in the top order would be the best position for me to bat but I haven’t had those discussions with the team management yet,” said Faf, who will be captaining Bangla Tigers in the November 19-December 4 tournament at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
Speaking at a virtual media conference, the South African said that the pitches in Abu Dhabi could assist the spinners more than the pacers, “Given the nature of the matches in Abu Dhabi during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, I think the spinners will have more of an impact as compared to the fast bowlers in the Abu Dhabi T10. However, raw pace can also be quite effective on up-and-down wickets. So, it’ll depend on the conditions on the day,” he observed.
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When asked about how he will go about his business in a new format, the South African said: “I think when you are moving from one format to the other, it’s about understanding your game. You need to think about the blueprint that you will need to follow which will give you consistent results. Through time in T20 cricket, I’ve got better at understanding my gameplan on different pitches and making decisions about which bowlers I can take on and which bowlers I can’t take on during a game.”
Like a number of his peers, Du Plessis also believes that the T10 format could be played in the Olympics, “I have played three formats for a long time and I am still attracted to the T10 format. I think players like myself will keep looking at tournaments like this. The future of T10 is looking good. It’s a format that can be used in the Olympics. The quick nature of T10 also makes it attractive to the fans. I think T10 is only going to get better and better.”
