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Faf Du Plessis
A one format player now, 35-year-old Australia and Punjab Kings all-rounder Marcus Stoinis wants to push boundaries by playing for long and he says, a ready reckoner in how to do it has already been created by 40-plus stalwarts like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Faf du Plessis. The cricketing world was left surprised with his decision to retire from ODIs ahead of the Champions Trophy but in a conversation with PTI, the player from Perth said he took the call after due deliberation and it was the only way he could prolong his career. With absolute clarity about his future, he now wants to put all his energies into playing T20 cricket for Australia and around the world. On top of his wish-list is featuring in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics where cricket will be played. "Yeah, absolutely. I still am going to be available playing international cricket for Australia in the T20 format. It was just a decision to step away from one day cricket, which, look, with the one day World Cup still quite
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL 2024 campaign is just one-match old but it has already exposed their biggest chink -- brittleness in bowling, and they need better returns from bowlers against a confident Punjab Kings at an unforgiving M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday. During their six-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings, the pacers were guilty of blindly following a short-pitch ball strategy while the spinners just did not have enough resources to exploit a gradually slowing-down Chepauk pitch. The three RCB spinners -- Mayank Dagar, Karn Sharma and Glenn Maxwell -- bowled five overs between them and managed middling figures of 37 for one without actually troubling the batters. In contrast, the two CSK spinners -- Ravindra Jadeja and Maheesh Theekshana --bowled a combined eight overs for figures of 57 for four when the deck was much easier to bat. So, the Royal Challengers' spinners will have to brace for a tougher task here as the 22-yard trampoline with short fences a
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis says Virat Kohli's infectious energy, which easily rubs off on everyone, is the secret of the brilliant on-field and an equally fulfilling off-field equation he shares with the Indian superstar. Du Plessis, who took over the team's captaincy after Kohli decided to step down at the end of the 2021 season, said batting with the prolific right-hander is an "unbelievable experience". "It's unbelievable batting with him. He is one of the favourite guys I like to bat with. He brings out so much energy in me, like sometimes, I feel I am fist bumping my glove though his hand because he gets so passionate being out there in the middl," Du Plessis told 'Star Sports'. "It's really infectious the way he gives that energy,... how this guy is always on and how does he manage it...on the field while catching balls, we both are very competitive and make sure we get those good catches for the team," the stylish right-hander said. He might not be th
As much as Faf du Plessis finds MS Dhoni's leadership inspirational but when he leads Johannesburg Super Kings in the upcoming SA20, he will go about the job in his own way, with an eye on wearing the Proteas jersey in the T20 World Cup in June . While he now leads RCB in the IPL, Du Plessis remains a sentimental favourite with the Yellow Shirt fans and watching him wear the "JSK" uniform does invoke a sense of happiness in them. So will SA20 act as a vehicle for one last shot at the global trophy? "Final crack... it is first about getting back from injury, looking forward to playing cricket again," he put things in perspective during the captains' press interaction on Monday. "Obviously, the tournament is the most important thing, I just want to make sure I play good cricket. It is a great time for us to be still involved in the game. Then we'll see what happens after that." About leading a franchise forever synonymous with MSD, Du Plessis is always ready to pick brains of senior