I told myself that this is what I was born for: Faf du Plessis on battling negativity to come out on top

It’s close to a year since dashing opener Faf du Plessis took over the reins as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and he translated that into performances on the field to finish as the top run-scorer for the team in IPL 2022. 

Recently, his autobiography ‘Through Fire’ hit the shelves and ever since its release, the book has emanated quite a ripple in the cricketing arcade. The former South African skipper has spoken about multiple aspects of his life that encompass his personal demons to how he tackled particular situations on the field which would have otherwise evoked feelings that usually leave a cricketer unsettled.

Speaking on the latest episode of RCB Podcast Season 2, Faf opened up about his unbeaten century after the infamous incident of ball tampering allegations that left the world shaken 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 on to 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 could be bad. I worked out at 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 on to 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 could get me out today.”