Faf Du Plessis: The South African chameleon

Put him in to play any form of cricket, he is going to perform; put him under any team, any captain, he is going to perform; put him under any conditions, he is going to perform – Faf Du Plessis is the current golden boy of international cricket. His unerring consistency in scoring big runs be it Test Cricket, One-Day Internationals, T20, IPL or other league matches, has ushered him into the admiring books of cricket fans and critics alike.
With a late debut in international cricket against India in 2011, Du Plessis impressed all with a solid innings of 60 providing the much needed anchor to the South African innings. South Africa may have lost that match but the world witnessed the arrival of one of the most adaptable batsmen in the current era. The unfortunate injury to JP Duminy during the tour to Australia in 2012 allowed for Du Plessis’ Test debut as a number 6 batsman. Two resilient innings in the match, the 2nd one being a match-saving one, earned him the man-of-the-match award. Du Plessis has never looked back from then on. Innings after innings he impressed, more and more indispensable he became. So much so that he was thrust with leading the South African T20 side in early 2013, after just two years into international cricket.
Faf Du Plessis, like his senior cricketing partner AB De Villiers has two weapons in his armor which any modern day cricketer would give his arm and leg for – consistency and adaptability. No Indian will ever be able to forget the fateful 2nd test match in South Africa in December 2013 when Du Plessis and AB De Villiers sweat it out in the fourth innings, preventing India of a certain win while chasing a mammoth 458 in the fourth innings. It was a gem of an innings full of grit, character, determination and pure textbook cricket. Du Plessis held on to his wicket almost till the very end, not distracted even when De Villiers finally succumbed at 103.
Then came IPL. It needed raw hitting power Du Plessis was more than happy to oblige. With a strike rate of 128.93 Du Plessis provided the expected hard-hitting middle order support. Gone was the calm stance, the patient stroke play. The way Du Plessis successfully adapted to the hotter conditions and faster version of the game from four months ago and performed made cricketing greats all around the world sit up and take notice of this South African.
He has continued to impress the world with his malleable batting style and mature adaptation to the varying demands of the game. Du Plessis has emerged as the highest scorer in the current tri-angular ODI series between South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe. With three back to back centuries, Du Plessis just missed the world record of becoming the first batsman to score four centuries in a single tournament (including the World Cup) by a whisker. 
It doesn’t matter whether it is 20 overs, 50 overs or 90 overs, Du Plessis has cracked the code of consistent and adaptable cricket which remains elusive for most of the cricketers today. He still has a long way to go in his cricketing career; let’s hope he continues to make the most out of cricket in future too.