CAPE TOWN - Proteas star Faf du Plessis says being named skipper of the Test team has made him a better cricketer.
Du Plessis smashed 185 runs on Tuesday night in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka at Newlands to help the hosts to a 40-run win and get them to within one match of being crowned the top ODI team in the world.
Victory over Sri Lanka in the fifth and final ODI at Faf’s home ground in Centurion on Friday (1.30pm) will not only give the hosts a series whitewash, but will also see Russell Domingo's men overtake Australia as the world’s best limited overs team.
Faf has been at the heart of the Proteas’ recent dominance in the 50-over game, scoring the most runs in the series, 369, at an average of 123.
Of his performances, Du Plessis says: “Being a captain makes me play better, the confidence and momentum definitely helps with that.
“It just makes you raise your own bar of performance, you want to be a better player, so I challenged myself to be a good player and now it’s to become a great player. It’s just about raising the bar in your own mental mind shift.”
Du Plessis could have etched his name into the history books with his performance on Tuesday - ultimately falling three runs short of Gary
Kirsten’s SA ODI batting record of 188.
But in true leadership style, the batsman says the record was never on his mind.
“I didn’t know about the record," he explained.
“I am very happy that I got to 180. The record is something that would have been nice but not for one second did I think of it and 200 was also not on my mind. I was just trying to get as many runs as possible.”
Faf took over the Test captaincy from AB de Villiers and says they have been working well together to get the best out of the team.
"Since AB has come back [from injury], we’ve worked really well together. I can feel that on the field we talk from the same mouth almost," he added.