Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Francois du Plessis

Francois du Plessis forced his way into the Proteas’ ODI line-up during the 2010/11 season through share weight of runs when he hit 3 centuries and made more than 500 runs in the domestic 40 overs competition. He carried this form into his debut ODI against India with a half-century and can look back on satisfactory career statistics with a strike rate of 83 after 47 matches including being a regular choice throughout the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

He had an outstanding 2012 IPL campaign with the Chennai Super Kings in the new role of opening batsman and consequently played in the unofficial T20 series in Zimbabwe. He subsequently made his T20 International debut against England and was selected for the ICC World Twenty20 squad.

Here’s a list of things you may have or may not have known about Francois du Plessis:

1. Francois du Plessis’ nickname is Faf
2. He made his Test debut in November 2012, he became the fourth South African to score a Test century on debut.
3. Du Plessis was subsequently also named T20 captain of South Africa for the following Twenty20 series against New Zealand and confirmed full-time skipper in Feb 2013. He scored 188 runs in the match and was selected as Man-of-the-match for his resilient performance that ultimately led to the match being drawn and the series being square before the third and final test.
4. Du Plessis subsequently was the last man to be dismissed, taking the South African score to 388 in reply to Australia’s 550
5. In December 2012, he was named captain of the South African T20 team for three matches against New Zealand.
6. In October 2013, he was fined 50% of his match fee after being found guilty of ball tampering in a Test match against Pakistan.
7. Du Plessis attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. He attended alongside fellow Titans cricketers AB de Villiers, Heino Kuhn and Jacques Rudolph.
8. He is also a graduate of the University of Pretoria. Du Plessis is a second cousin of Namibian rugby player Marcel du Plessis.
9. He was featured in the music video for the song “Maak Jou Drome Waar”, a duet by AB de Villiers and Ampie du Preez.
10. He is married to Imari Visser.