Every Test match, they bat first, they score 500, they declare when it's dark: Faf du Plessis

As a captain who is at the twilight of his career, Faf du Plessis is not having a good time on the ground. The World Cup in England saw Du Plessis ending as one of the worst-performing captains as the Proteas ended seventh out of 10 teams. And more recently, South Africa saw a disastrous opening in the ICC Test Championship with a 0-3 drubbing in the hands of India.

Two of those three defeats were by an innings as South African batsmen kept on wondering for answers against the superior Indian bowling attack. Du Plessis, 35, who has led SA to win in 17 out of 32 Tests, has sought “clarity” from Cricket South Africa over rebuilding the team and moving forward in an era when a number of big names have exited the scene, like AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn.

The South African coaching staff and selection committee, led by Ottis Gibson, was sacked following the dismal performance at the World Cup. A new arrangement was put in place but the new members were picked only in an interim capacity, including a director of cricket and a team director for the tour of India. Du Plessis wants more former players to be involved in South Africa’s rebuilding.

Faf du Plessis questions the role of toss

But apart from South Africa’s own trouble, Du Plessis was also upset with the one-sided toss results in the series. He stressed the role that toss plays, especially in the subcontinent, and asked in favor of doing away with the coin-flipping part in the Tests. India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat in all the three Test matches and after the hosts piled up mammoth totals, SA were only left as also-rans in the games.

“Every Test match, they bat first, they score 500, they declare when it’s dark, they get three wickets when it’s dark, and when Day 3 starts, you’re under pressure,” a frustrated Du Plessis said as quoted by Cricbuzz while speaking on India’s strategy in the series.

“It was like copy and paste in every Test match. (If the toss is done away with in overseas Tests) then away teams will have a better chance. In South Africa I don’t mind that. We bat on green tops anyway.”

Du Plessis even took his deputy Temba Bavuma to the toss in the third Test in Ranchi hoping for a change of luck. But even he lost the call, leaving Kohli smiling.

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