Cape Town - Looking in from the outside there could not be two more diverse cricketers than Josh Hazelwood and Faf du Plessis on the international circuit right now. Besides the obvious physical attributes with Hazelwood’s 1.96m dwarfing Du Plessis’s 1.80m, their personalities are poles apart too.
Whereas Hazelwood’s Twitter page consists primarily of cricket-related uploads, the Proteas captain is a much more urbane individual with his tweets reflecting restaurant critiques, male grooming sessions and wine tasting afternoons.
However, upon closer reflection, out on the field the similarities are closer than what is portrayed. Both players showed the common desire to make an immediate impact on their Test debut.
No Australian bowler will forget Du Plessis’s Test bow in a hurry when he blocked, blocked and blocked some more at the Adelaide Oval in the second Test of the Proteas’ last tour to Australia in 2012. Du Plessis’s unbeaten century literally brought the home side to their knees with the Australian selectors forced to change the home side’s attack for the decider in Perth the following week.
Having been spared that suffering with Hazelwood only starting his international Test career two years later against India at the Gabba, the lanky paceman wrecked havoc with match-figures of 7/142, which included a first innings “five-for”.
The duo also share an insatiable appetite for hard graft. There are other members of the Australian attack that possess more natural talent by virtue of greater pace or the ability to swing the ball more, but it is Hazelwood that has the consistency of line and length that reaps the rewards.
Equally Du Plessis has come to the crease on most occasions in his Test career between Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers - arguably the most talented batsmen in South Africa’s modern Test history. He has needed to formulate a gameplan that supplements their attacking instincts, which has required a great deal of patience, concentration and self-restraint.
Although only 20 matches into his Test career, Hazelwood has already earned high praise with pundits comparing the 2015 ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year to a fellow New South Welshman and Australian legend Glenn McGrath due to his devilish combination of height, bounce, accuracy and deviation. These traits will certainly put Du Plessis’s technique through the sternest of examinations.
And like his predecessor, the 25-year-old will relish the opportunity of staring down the tourists’ skipper like McGrath thrived on during his hey day. He will know that limiting Du Plessis’s personal contributions with the bat could trigger a ripple effect in the way he leads the Proteas out in the field too.
Du Plessis, though, will not simply allow Hazelwood to dominate him. The Proteas captain is cut from a tough old loin cloth, dripped in courage and oozing guts and determination. Even when his Test career was hanging by a thinnest of ribbons not too long ago, he remained steadfast in his approach and exuded the self-belief of a man that was not perturbed with the criticism that was coming his way.
And when the runs eventually came - a century at his home ground SuperSport Park in the final Test against New Zealand - and it still did not satisfy the haters because of the pace at which it was scored Du Plessis had a simple retort.
"When I score big runs in Test cricket, it's when I play those gritty innings and mentally tire the opposition out," he said. "I had to make sure I knuckle down to my gameplan and wait for the bowlers to bowl in my area."
Du Plessis has been very vocal about the psychological edge the Proteas will take into the Test series due to the 5-0 ODI whitewash the Aussies suffered in South Africa earlier this month. Hazelwood was at home resting while his national teammates were suffering a pasting, but maintains the recuperation was just what the doctor ordered for him to come firing back at the South Africans in the Test series.
"Sri Lanka was a long tour physically and mentally," Hazlewood said. "And with a lot of cricket coming up I think the rest was valid. There's a lot of change to the teams from Test cricket to one-day cricket. There will be a few guys there carrying what happened but there will be a lot of fresh faces. It gives us a lot of motivation."
Both sets of players will certainly not need any extra incentive to perform when the series concludes in Adelaide with the day-night Test. There is a great chance that the series could be all square still after the two earlier bouts in Perth and Hobart.
Hazelwood will certainly have the advantage at this juncture after he was named Man of the Match in the inaugural floodlit Test last year for his match figures of 9/136. He particularly enjoyed the 8mm of grass that was left on the Adelaide Oval pitch that kept the pink ball seaming and swerving ball throughout during under the evening skies.
This pink-ball knowledge is certainly greater than Du Plessis’s, who said last week "I haven't faced or thrown the pink ball around so it's all pretty new to me" ahead of the past weekend’s warm-up match under lights against the Cricket Australia XI.
But be it pink ball or red ball be sure to keep a close eye on the Du Plessis-Hazelwood battle for neither player is going to give an inch over the course of the three Test matches.
Independent Media