“First in, hopefully, the last to get out”, said RCB’s newest Skipper, Faf du Plessis upon entering the 3-day quarantine. And on the first day of practice as the first group of players made their way to the Bandra Kurla Complex for the training session, it felt like the skipper was absolutely committed to that mantra.

Asked what he would do on Day 1 of the practice session, an apparently happy Faf said, “First day out, not to take it too aggressively. A little easy stretch and run around, hit a few balls. But it’s just really nice to be outside.”

So, how did the skipper’s first day after spending 3 days cooped up in a room go? “Normally, what you try and do anyway is just to get things going again, slowly but surely. So I started with some throwdowns, to feel bat on ball again, to feel my technique. And then went to the next stage, facing some stick bowling and some spin bowling. But today was just about actually just coming out of a room. You just get your body movement again, you feel your bat in your hands again, stuff like that,” explained Faf.

The Skipper was seen in the nets hitting a few shots out of the middle of his bat, most of which made it over the fences.

What else apart from batting out in the middle did the Skipper do? “I also did some running around the field. I do quite a bit of running through the season because I feel like when I’m on the field, at least my legs feel like they’ve done some work. And also today, it’s been really nice for me, my first day really in the RCB camp. To meet some of the new boys, some of the young boys as well, to see them for the first time, what they do,” he continued.

“A very relaxed day. Really enjoyed it,” is how the Skipper described his first day at work with RCB.