Faf du Plessis: “There was no boring Test cricket, it was a lot of action”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

The demise of Test cricket has been a hot topic for quite some time, but South Africa captain Faf du Plessis sees light at the end of the tunnel for the format, especially after how the first Test between his side and India unfolded.

South Africa ultimately triumphed by 72 runs, but prior to that, the first two days of the match in Cape Town was a back and forth affair that left fans and pundits on the edge of their seats.

Despite the third day being washed out due to persistent rain, the fourth day continued to competitive trend that had been seen on the first two days.

With surprising twists and turns occurring throughout the match, Du Plessis feels that it was the perfect “advert for Test cricket”.

“There was this flow the whole time: India’s on top then South Africa’s on top, then they are taking the game to us and we are taking it back to them,” Du Plessis was quoted as saying by India Today. “Just as an advert for Test cricket, that’s as good as it gets.

“There was no boring Test cricket, it was a lot of action. And that’s why we absolutely loved this Test match. And even if we had lost this game, we would have been very disappointed but would have said the way this game was played was remarkable.”

Meanwhile, Du Plessis also heaped praise on Vernon Philander, branding him as one of the best pace bowlers in the world after his career-best figures of 6-42 helped the Proteas go 1-0 up in the three-Test series.

“If there is something in the wicket, Vern is as good as you get around the world,” the South African skipper was quoted as saying by Sport24. “What impressed me most today is that he wanted to bowl overs.

“He wanted the ball and he wanted to make a plan and that’s what you want from your senior players.”

India really began to panic on the fourth day when Philander trapped captain Virat Kohli lbw for 28. When asked what he did to send Kohli back to the pavilion, Philander said: “Virat is an aggressive player and the key thing is to keep him quiet and set him up for the other one … I always knew that I had that one coming back.

“It was about two and a half overs of away swing and then one back at him. It was definitely a plan to keep him quiet and to drag him across to make sure that when you do bowl the other one he’s on the wrong side of off stump. From the get-go I knew that it was stone dead.”

Given that India were only chasing 208 to win following an inspired bowling performance that saw the Proteas skittled out for 130, Philander knew that he had to have an impact early on, especially as South Africa were without pace maestro Dale Steyn, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the series with a heel injury.

“When you look at the type of score you need to defend, someone has to make the play and you can’t wait for late in the game,” he said. “I knew that I had to bowl overs up front to put us in a good position and I just wanted to contribute.”