To all intents and purposes, AB de Villiers is the Proteas' Test and ODI captain. Even stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis says: “We can’t wait to have him back ... he is a massive leader in our team.”
But with every series victory - the latest against world champions Australia with two matches left in a five-match ODI series - Du Plessis leads, the T20 captain is making a serious play for the job on a permanent basis in all formats.
The Proteas have achieved significant ODI series success under De Villiers too, especially on the subcontinent where they have beat Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India. And last summer, they fought from 2-0 down to defeat England 3-2 at home.
De Villiers has often led from the front with breathtaking batting displays - he averages 65.92 in 87 ODIs since being installed as captain in 2012 (his overall average is 53.63).
Du Plessis can't compare to De Villiers, with the former only averaging 40.92 overall, and 36.00 on the seven occasions he's stood in for AB.
However, the merit in Du Plessis being handed the captain’s job permanently lies in how he manages his troops. Whereas De Villiers’ style derives from personal performance and a bit more “waving of hands”, with a dependency on passion and pride from his charges, Du Plessis possesses a calmer persona.
This doesn't imply that the latter doesn't tug at any heartstrings. With Du Plessis at the helm, the Proteas dressing-room seems a composed place, which allows the players to express themselves.
The cliffhanger at Kingsmead on Wednesday was a prime example. David Miller’s international career was on shaky ground ahead of the third ODI at his former home-ground and he could easily have been dropped for Farhaan Behardien.
But with Du Plessis’ support, Miller delivered an innings that the Kingsmead crowd won't forget in a hurry. He blitzed the Aussies to spearhead a record run-chase. It’s no wonder Du Plessis struggled to hold back his emotions when he said: “David’s innings was one of the best I’ve ever seen and I’m so proud of him.”
The way that Du Plessis has eased Andile Phehlukwayo into international cricket has been magnificent too. Since his debut against Ireland a fortnight ago, Du Plessis has been at the 20-year-old’s side whenever he’s been thrown the ball, and was one of the first to congratulate him after his heroics with the bat on Wednesday. There’s no doubt a few wise words were also passed on before Phehlukwayo strode out into the Kingsmead pressure-cooker.
There is also a frankness about Du Plessis that comes through in his captaincy. He admitted prior to the series that Australia would miss the injured Mitchell Starc, but that it didn’t mean because the visitors are fielding an understrength attack it should detract from the magnitude of a South African series win. And he wasn’t afraid to say so again on Wednesday night.
“I think as an international team you cannot use that as an excuse, never,” he said. “I’ve been part of a South African team when we had no Dale Steyn and no Vernon Philander in our Test team, and you can’t use that as an excuse.
“You have to find a way as a team to try and compete against the best teams in the world and we didn’t in that series against England and it would have been a lot different with the two of them playing.
“But you can’t use that as an excuse, you have to find a way as a squad to try and compete. There’s a little bit of inexperience there, but they would be the first guys not to blame their weakened attack. They’re the number-one team in the world and they know they still have to put up a good fight against us.”
Du Plessis has already beaten New Zealand in Test cricket this season. He now has an ODI series win against Australia. If he manages to pull off the biggest heist of them all when the Proteas head Down Under at the end of the month for a three-match Test series, the sight of Faf leading his country on a permanent basis could be his destiny.
Cape Times