South Africa’s leadership conundrum has come full circle, with the Test captaincy now in the hands of Faf du Plessis, a man seemingly designed for it
Firdose Moonda15-Dec-2016A man and his dog were at Newlands on Wednesday afternoon but not to make up the proverbial crowd that usually attends domestic first-class matches here. The man was Faf du Plessis, who was making his first appearance as the new permanent Test captain. The dog was Giorgio, his nine-year old dachshund, who had a back operation earlier this year after becoming temporarily paralysed and now has his hind legs in a harness.Together they walked the outfield that is now du Plessis’ domain; the outfield on which South Africa’s captaincy conundrum has come full circle.It was on this ground that Hashim Amla announced he would not continue to captain, opening the door for AB de Villiers to do the job he always wanted. It was also on this ground that du Plessis, standing in for an injured de Villiers, led South Africa in completing a 5-nil ODI series whitewash over Australia to begin the conversation over whether the leadership role needed to be looked at again. And it was on this ground last Thursday that du Plessis played for the national cricket side against the national rugby side and afterwards found out that de Villiers had made the decision to give up the captaincy before anyone else could make it for him.”I got the call just after the Proteas game against the Boks that AB is going to stand down for the Test matches,” du Plessis said. “I spoke to him that evening and I phoned him the next day just to make sure. My policy will always be one of being really honest, so it was just speaking as friends would do about going forward.”
“AB has always been a guy that puts the team first, as you’ve seen by his making this decision. To be part of something like that says a lot about our culture but also shows a lot about AB as a person and how he values the team above himself”
De Villiers’ decision came on the back of his own injury problems. He has not yet recovered from an elbow problem and hasn’t played for South Africa in almost six months, since their triangular series in the Caribbean. In that time the team have found the drive they lacked last summer and they have started winning again. It is obvious that they have got a good thing going and de Villiers did not want to stand in the way of that developing.”AB has been amazing,” du Plessis said. “He has always been a guy that puts the team first, as you’ve seen by his making this decision. To be part of something like that says a lot about our culture but also shows a lot about AB as a person and how he values the team above himself.” Du Plessis stressed that having his old schoolmate’s backing is the crucial to his captaincy. “That’s something he said to me, that he will always be there no matter what and he will always back me. It was great to hear that from him. I got a call from Hashim as well, to say well done. Hashim passed it on to AB and then AB passed it on to me.”While Amla has completely relinquished armbands of any description – except when leading du Plessis’ defense against ball-tampering – de Villiers remains in charge in some capacity. He is the ODI captain and should return to that role mid-January, when South Africa play Sri Lanka as they start their planning for June’s ICC event. Du Plessis has promised to offer him reciprocal commitment. “AB is still captain in ODIs and I am really excited about that because he wants to win that Champions Trophy and I will be completely behind him,” du Plessis said.Little else could be expected from two men who knew each other before the world knew either of them, more than two decades ago. To outsiders it’s a bromance between school-friends turned international team-mates but to South Africa, it means adjusting between captains. Split leadership was in vogue a few years ago but more recent thinking – including Graeme Smith’s appreciation for “streamlining” the captaincy – has suggested it could be a curveball. Du Plessis played that down, saying the only difference between de Villiers and him is that his friend is the brightest star in South Africa’s sporting sky while du Plessis is just one of the troops – albeit one who has the team’s buy-in.Say woof: Faf du Plessis and his dog Giorgio pose for the cameras•Firdose Moonda/ESPNcricinfo”AB leads from performance – he is a guy that every time he steps onto the field, you want to be better as a player because he is that good. He is a freak when it comes to cricket. He always puts himself out there and he gives 150%, so it’s easy for a team to follow that,” du Plessis said. “My style is a little bit different to that. I am not as good as AB is, so I have to rely on other qualities. I try and challenge a team as much as I can. For me it’s harder work, I suppose.”But it’s also work that du Plessis loves. He has long said captaincy brings out the best in him and he has proved it with two hundreds in five Tests as stand-in captain. The longest format is his first love and leading in it gives him his greatest joy.”Being a Test captain is almost the first time when people really take you seriously. T20 is like fun, the X-factor of cricket. Test cricket is, for me the most enjoyable time to be a captain because you have to work on plans for a long period of time, you have to strategise how you are going to get guys out and continuously challenge guys over a long period of time,” du Plessis said. “It’s a huge honour and I will be taking it very seriously.”Just at that moment, things became completely un-serious. Giorgio grew restless, shifted between the cameras and the reporters, wandered towards the pitch and eventually sat at du Plessis’ feet, looking up with puppy eyes and whimpering. His wish was du Plessis’ command. Mid-interview, Giorgio was lifted off the floor and cuddled. Between this man and his dog, there’s no doubt who the real boss is.
