It has been a year since Faf du Plessis took over the reins of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and emerged as the highest scorer for the Red and Gold Brigade in the preceding edition of the tournament. He had a phenomenal start that was followed by a brief moment of lull from his blade but the way he bounced back was a treat to the sore eyes.
Recently, his autobiography ‘Through Fire’ hit the shelves and ever since its release, it has emanated quite a ripple in the cricketing arcade. The former South African skip has talked about multiple aspects of his life that encompass from his personal demons to how he tackled particular situations on the field which would have otherwise evoked feelings that usually leave a cricketer unsettled.
In the latest clip of RCB Podcast Season 2, Faf opened up about his unbeaten century after the infamous incident of ball tampering allegations that left the world shook in that one single moment of dread.
With his mind racing all over the place, Faf had to brave so many hindrances in that one single instance to come out on top of the bowlers and he went onto stamp his authority with a commanding knock. Faf said, “I thought at that stage that I was very unfairly criticized for shining the ball.”
He continued, “Media absolutely ripped into me. The Australian media can be very aggressive. They labelled me as a cheat. Before the third Test, every newspaper went like, “Faf du Plessis is a cheat. They were posting everything that can be bad. I worked out at the Adelaide for the first pink ball Test and there were more than fifty thousand people booing me. It was loud as it can get.”’ He concluded by saying, “I told myself that this is what I was born for. This cricket is my character. There is a fight in me. Then I went onto get a hundred in that Test match. Even when I got to my fifty, the entire stadium booed me. Only when I got to my hundred, half of the stadium clapped and half booed me. It was more than a split room. But it also ignited a fire in me. I knew that no one can get me out today.”
