THE FINE ART OF T20 LEADERSHIP

Zaahier Adams

Faf du Plessis believes a captain still has to trust his instinct out in the middle.

IT is the height of T20 fashion to rave about matchups and pre-match data analysis that transforms the on-field captain into a virtual traffic conductor.

And yet despite the growing reliance on statistics in the shortest format of the game, the influence of the skipper on the outcome of matches has never been more crucial.

Faf du Plessis, the former Proteas captain who led his country in 40 of the 50 T20Is he played including two T20 World Cups, believes the final call remains with the man in the middle.

“In Test cricket, because you have time, the captain does play a role but the backroom staff can help. You come off the field and discuss things, and a lot of help can come from other people,” Du Plessis exclusively told IOL Sport.

“But I think in T20 cricket the game is moving so fast, so tactically the captain plays a huge role in the T20 format. You can do all the planning, and matchups before the game, in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and you run through all of that as a leadership group, but when you get out there things can change, and that’s when a captain has to trust his instinct because it could be completely different to all the chats that you had the night before.”

Du Plessis possessed deep tactical acumen, the ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat at any given time. He was also engaging with the media, unlike his predecessors and successors, and was passionate when he believed he was right.

Above all, he cared for South African cricket and South Africa’s cricketers. He was always careful to ensure that they knew that he was on their side, and showed them appropriate love with public displays of affection never far away.

Equally, he has walked into dressing rooms in India (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Pakistan (Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators), West Indies (St Lucia Kings), England (Northern SuperChargers) and South Africa (Paarl Rocks) and brought together a motley crew and transformed them into competitive outfits.

“I’m a massive believer in manmanagement. For me, it’s about the relationship. And that comes from away from the field, so when the day comes when you are out in the middle, there is trust. The bowler believes I am in it with him, and that’s why I believe manmanagement plays a huge role because then you are in sync on the field,” Du Plessis said.

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