Faf du Plessis at 40: Still fabulous, and faster than ever
He feels “really, really good from a body perspective,” but knows having to evolve continuously is the way forward
Firdose Moonda10-Jan-2025Faf du Plessis is halfway to 41 and still feels “really, really good from a body perspective,” as he enters his 21st year as a professional cricketer, with a whole new outlook on the game.”You have to evolve,” du Plessis, the Joburg Super Kings captain, told ESPNcricinfo at the SA20 captains day press conference in Cape Town. “Batting, for me, has evolved in the last three years. I keep trying to improve my own game. And the same with the training aspect. It’s not the same as what it used to be.”Du Plessis has scored over 1000 runs in T20s in each of the last three years and also maintained a strike-rate above 140 in that time. In 2023 and 2024, his strike rate was 149.46 and 155.80 respectively, the highest of his career.Related
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At the same time, du Plessis considers himself to be in as good a shape as he ever was and showed that off at a training session recently. He puts both down to a “smarter” approach to preparation, which is paying off with a more aggressive ability at game time.”I understand my body better,” he said. “In general, we’ve got a misconception that you have to do a lot to be at your fittest. I don’t think that’s the case. I’m consistent with it, but I don’t feel like I’m doing more. It’s about using your time better.”One-half of that is how he has decided to fill his cricket calendar. Last year, du Plessis played in tournaments in January-February (SA20), March-May (IPL), July (MLC) and August (CPL) which means he got around four months off at the end of the year. In 2023, he did the same thing, albeit without the MLC. The last time du Plessis played in the BBL, BPL and the Hundred was in 2022 and it seems like concentrating on a few marquee leagues is working for him. The clashes with other leagues aside, it also gives him the time for training and most importantly, recovery.
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“When you’re younger, you just go the next day. You don’t stretch, you don’t worry about things like that,” du Plessis said. “Now stuff like ice baths and nutrition makes a difference. Hamstrings become a different beast and you have to train them differently. Oh, and sleep. I cannot do what I did when I was younger, when I could go out a bit and come up the next morning and perform. That doesn’t work at our age.”You have to evolve. But it’s great. It drives me to look for the one percenters, to remain competitive and try and compete with the great athletes and the guys that are younger than me.”Faf du Plessis has been busy playing T20 leagues all over the world•CPL T20/Getty ImagesAnd of those, there are plenty including the rookie in du Plessis’ Joburg Super Kings changeroom: JP King. At 21, King greeted du Plessis with the words: Hello Oom (uncle) Faf. “Yeah, that’s not great,” du Plessis joked. “But it is great for young guys coming straight out of school, that they get to rub shoulders with guys who play a lot of cricket around the world. That’s something that you cannot buy in a supermarket. It’s such great learning for them.”The experience-youth blend is one of the major talking points of the SA20, with 18-year-old Kwena Maphaka and 39-year-old Dinesh Karthik sharing a press conference stage at the Paarl Royals pre-tournament media day as another example. For his part, Karthik feels similar to du Plessis, about his physical and mental condition and how the biggest difference between the player he was a decade ago and the one he is now is the time needed to recover.”I feel my body is in a good place and I’m not feeling bored. I’m not waking up thinking, ‘oh my god it’s such a chore.’ The day I feel that, I think I’ll call it quits,” Karthik told ESPNcricinfo. “What I’ve realised is I’m able to do everything while playing, but the time taken to recover is a little bit more as you grow older. Yesterday I played a (warm-up) game and I need to take today off completely just to allow the body to recuperate.”
“Imi’s celebration tells you the care and dedication that he has and that’s the same Imi that you see behind the scenes, working out, doing all the little small things that are important”Faf du Plessis on Imran Tahir’s dedication
Karthik is one of three 39-year-olds at the tournament, alongside Colin Ingram and David Wiese. Between Karthik and du Plessis’ ages, is Roelof van der Merwe, who turned 40 on the last day of 2024. But no one comes close to the tournament’s “Gandalf,” as du Plessis put it: Imran Tahir.The legspinner is 45, the oldest player on the T20 league circuit and just keeps getting better. Since he turned 40 in 2019, no one in his age bracket has taken more T20 wickets than Tahir with 245 in 186 matches and though there is no database for it, let’s just say no one celebrates with as much gusto.Tahir’s passion for wicket-taking is, according to du Plessis, only the shop window which shows how much he still wants to play the game. The rest of the work happens where there are no cameras to document it.”Imi’s celebration tells you the care and dedication that he has and that’s the same Imi that you see behind the scenes, working out, doing all the little small things that are important,” du Plessis said. “Myself and Imran are probably in the gym the most in our squad. It’s just a level of professionalism and a drive. And there’s also a competitiveness that’s ingrained in you.”What keeps du Plessis going at 40? The desire to be a role model•BCCIApart from what Karthik admitted was a financial incentive to keep going because, “you get financially rewarded a lot more as a player than as support staff,” why do the likes of him, du Plessis and Tahir keep playing? For du Plessis, there are several reasons, starting with his desire to be a role model.”It’s a great example for the young guys especially those you see coming through and you think they may need to do a bit of work on their physical condition,” he said. “We can show them it’s not that hard. It’s just consistency and doing the small things better.”It’s also because he can and most importantly, because he wants to. “Sport has changed for the better, so you see sportspeople all around the world doing this for longer than they’ve ever been doing it,” du Plessis said. “And I still enjoy it. This is a great competition, so I would like to play this for as long as possible.”