IND vs SA | Faf du Plessis has a chance to start off fresh sans captaincy, believes Zaheer Khan

The last six to eight months have been a roller coaster for former South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis who went from winning the country’s men cricketer of the year award to losing two-Test series back to back to relinquish his captaincy. While life hasn’t been easy for the veteran batsman, he is looking to come back strong in the India tour after being rested for a couple of series.

Former India tearaway Zaheer Khan believes that with a load of captaincy off his shoulders du Plessis will find it easy to pull things together and get his career on track. Zaheer labelled the series a fresh start for the experienced campaigner more like writing his remaining career on a blank slate.

“You will look at the history of cricket and you will find plenty of examples where good players are not able to take the pressure of captaincy. There are certain players who flourish under the pressure of captaincy and then some players get bogged down or captaincy can bring you down. You know in Faf’s case the latter has happened," Zaheer said, on Cricbuzz Live.

“He couldn’t really live up to the captaincy pressure and now he has the chance to start off fresh. We have always known what kind of player Faf is, the numbers speak for him, and it’s just about clearing your mind and starting off fresh when you focus on your game and go on to do your routine things and let someone else drive the ship.”

The 41-year-old went on to add that du Plessis’ presence will not only bolster the young and inexperienced Proteas batting lineup but the youngsters will groom under his guidance benefiting from the immense experience he possesses. Du Plessis can even lend a hand to the newly appointed skipper Quinton de Kock in running the show in the middle.

“The South African team needs his experience in that group to calm the nerves down and share the pressure of putting up a total on the board together. So I think it will be a good move for South Africa to bring Faf back into the setup and help him in the process of starting off fresh,” he concluded.