2015 World Cup semi final left me heartbroken: Faf du Plessis
In a live Facebook session with Bangladeshi opening batsman Tamim Iqbal yesterday, Faf du Plessis has called for a two week isolation period before and after the T20 World Cup this year in Australia to ensure the smooth running of the tournament, in case the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
Although the ICC are trying their best to ensure that the tournament takes place on the scheduled time, which is from the latter part of October till November, but as things stand, there is a possibility that the tournament will get postponed.
The former Proteas skipper said, “I am not sure, reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lots of countries and they are talking about December or January. But even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it’s a health risk to them.”
“But you can go in before the tournament (for) two weeks isolation and then play the tournament and afterwards two weeks isolation. But I don’t know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can’t go there like old days on boats,” he added.
Du Plessis also went on to talk about the 2015 Men’s Cricket World Cup semi final against New Zealand, in which South Africa heartbreakingly lost while defending 298 off 43 overs, thanks to a thrilling knock of 84* off 74 from the Johannesburg born New Zealand all rounder Grant Elliott, who sealed the win for the Blackcaps with one ball to spare, hitting the penultimate ball from Dale Steyn for six.
Du Plessis, who top scored for South Africa in the first innings with 82 off 107, said, “I’ve never been that much broken about a cricket match. You know you win and lose a lot of cricket games. Most of the time when you lose you are disappointed. But that game specifically I have never seen so many grown men absolutely broken. Like half the team was crying and you know South Africans, we act like we are hard guys.”
“The dressing room was absolutely broken. And we had to stay two days longer because we couldn’t get a flight back to South Africa, so, for two days, whenever we saw our teammates, no one made eye contact or spoke. Afterwards I played the IPL but I didn’t feel that I’m playing cricket, I was so heartbroken inside,” revealed du Plessis.