Durban - Faf du Plessis goes into today’s first Test against New Zealand at Kingsmead not only hoping to restore his country’s fortunes, but also to rediscover his batting mojo.
Du Plessis, who described the added responsibility of captaining the team in place of the injured AB de Villiers as an “incredible honour”, doesn’t need any reminding that the Proteas have slumped down the ICC rankings to seventh position after looking down on the rest of the world just three years ago.
The right-handed batsman, who turned 32 last month, has a tidy overall average of 41 after 29 Tests, but his recent form has not been reassuring, averaging just 21 in his last 15 innings since the start of last year, while fellow middle-order batsman JP Duminy is even more in need of runs, averaging 15.8 since the beginning of 2015.
Du Plessis acknowledged this when he said: “We need all our senior players to fire in the batting line-up. It’s an important series for me personally to make a statement in the middle-order. I need to be playing Test cricket, it’s as simple as that, and I have to perform to a standard that takes care of that.”
He described South Africa’s sudden drop in the rankings as largely down to the series defeats against India and England and said that the 3-0 defeat to India had “left a few scars” for the batsmen.
At the same time, he argued that the conditions for batting on the sub-continent were particularly tough, a scenario that has just been revisited by Australia, who have just been whitewashed 3-0 by Sri Lanka.
Reflecting on the last two years, Du Plessis admitted there had to be a “culture shift” in the team following the glory years under captain Graeme Smith and coach Gary Kirsten.
“I was part of the Smith era and there are qualities you can take from that time, but things are different now because of different players and different personalities. I think we as a team realise that now.”
Like De Villiers earlier this week, Du Plessis pointed out the importance of a recent “culture camp” in Pretoria in which squad members were encouraged to be particularly honest with each other in order to identify the team’s flaws as well as the direction in which the group wanted to go.
“There was some real honest feedback on where we want to go as a team and where we’d fallen short. Perhaps a sense of direction was lacking for a while, but I feel that’s back in place now,” he said.
In an unusually candid admission, Du Plessis said: “We have challenged each other much more than we used to do. We had such a nice culture when we were playing well and you could almost leave it be. But now (following recent defeats) we are challenging each other to be better and not to accept mediocrity.
“Perhaps we’ve fallen into a few traps where you play so much cricket that you start rocking up just to play another game.”
Referring to the Black Caps, Du Plessis said they had been playing consistently good cricket over the last two years and would be formidable opponents.
“You may think of us as the favourites because we’re playing in home conditions, but I think it’s a very evenly-matched series and we’re going to have to play well to beat them.”
He welcomed back his two main strike bowlers Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander, from injury, saying their experience would be crucial to the quality of the team’s performance.
He added that off-spinner Dane Piedt would be likely to play, as recent history has shown that spinners can do well at Kingsmead.
Both Du Plessis and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson acknowledged they weren’t quite sure what conditions to expect in Durban because it was the first Test match ever to be played in winter here. The key to success, both stated, was the respective teams’ ability to adjust to whatever conditions prevailed.
Williamson, the third-ranked batsman in world cricket, said he and team management would wait until after their team practice late yesterday before deciding what team to pick.
“It’s a case of either picking an extra spinner or an extra seamer. The wicket looks a bit tacky at the moment but you’ve got to factor in the fact that the game lasts for five days.”
He foresaw no changes in the batting order from the XI chosen for both recent Zimbabwe Tests.
Meanwhile, both English on-field umpires will celebrate birthdays during the match. Ian “Gunner” Gould turns 59 today and Richard Illingworth is 53 on Tuesday.
The Star