South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was named South African Cricketer of the Year, SA Players' Player of the Year and Standard Bank ODI Cricketer of the Year in CSA's (Cricket South Africa) awards function in Pretoria. Reacting to his triple honour, he said that his recognition as a player more than a captain really moved him.
"Getting the recognition of my peers is really special,” he said. “I've been to the awards a few times now, been nominated in a few categories and won a few trophies here and there, but never have I won the Players' Player of the Year and that in itself, especially as a captain, makes it even more special for me."
“Obviously the players recognise your performance, but as a leader that makes me extremely proud of that trophy. I've always strived for greatness more as a leader rather than as a player.”
South Africa were disappointing in the recently concluded World Cup. But Du Plessis was excellent in ODIs, scoring more than 1,100 runs in his last 26 matches.
“To be honest, when I was a bit younger, I never really thought it would be me standing there winning the Players’ Player award,” he explained. “As I said, I've always seen myself as being the leader and stuff like that playing more of an important role compared to actually being a great player, so I'm extremely happy."
“The last two or three years there's been a good consistency about my game and I'm really happy to get some recognition for it.”
Further speaking about his time after the World Cup, he said, "It's been a nice break to get away from the game a little bit,” he added. “Playing for the Proteas, even though it was disappointing how I felt after the World Cup, the specialness of playing for this team is still there. And I do feel there's a huge drive from me still to play for this team. Hopefully, there's some really good things ahead for this team and for me with the team as well.”
