F du Plessis
Faf du Plessis is a South African batter who has competed across Test, ODI and T20 cricket for South Africa as well as a lengthy list of franchise sides including Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Joburg Super Kings. Across 497 career matches he has scored 19,029 runs at a batting average of 39.81. His primary competition is the Indian Premier League, where 147 appearances have produced 4,773 runs at a strike rate of 135.79. On recent form he has been active in the SA20 and Nepal Premier League, posting three scores between 39 and 47 in the SA20 in early January 2026.
2026 Season Context
Current team & role
Chennai Super Kings · All-Rounder
Recent form
Du Plessis posted scores of 39, 44 and 47 in three SA20 outings in January 2026 and struck a 50 off 20 balls in the Nepal Premier League in December 2025. He has passed 35 in five of his last ten inni
Strongest format
Indian Premier League — The IPL is du Plessis's primary competition by match count (147 appearances) and his strike rate of 135.79 there reflects a player comfortable at the
Career stats overview
68 Test · 135 ODI · 294 T20I appearances — spanning 2009 to present.
Test
68 matches
Where his legacy was forged — the format that rewards patience and precision.
ODI
135 matches
The middle-overs architect — a decade of white-ball consistency.
T20I
294 matches
Brief but impactful — quality over volume in the shortest format.
Format-aware deep dive
Where he dominates
Home record
Average 21.4 on Indian soil — better than any active spinner of the era.
Fourth-innings force
A third of his Test wickets come on day five, when bowlers decide outcomes.
Lower-order resilience
At No.7 his average beats every Indian specialist in that slot since 2015.
Elite opposition
Combined record vs Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa.
Consistency
Third-most by any Indian bowler since his Test debut.
WTC presence
In the conversation every cycle. Central to this India red-ball side.
Career threads
Beyond the numbers
Nearly 19,000 runs across 497 matches
Du Plessis has accumulated 19,029 runs from 497 appearances across all formats, averaging 39.81 with a career strike rate of 86.84. That volume spans international cricket for South Africa, the IPL, the CPL, SA20, and Major League Cricket.
ODIs are his most productive format by average
Across 135 ODI appearances, du Plessis averages 46.94 at a strike rate of 88.18, scoring 5,445 runs. Those numbers sit comfortably above his returns in any other format, making the 50-over game his most consistent arena by average.
IPL: 4,773 runs at a strike rate of 135.79
In 147 IPL matches, du Plessis has scored 4,773 runs at 37.29 with a strike rate of 135.79. That combination of volume and scoring rate across the tournament's entire history places him among its most consistent openers.
Wanderers is his highest-volume venue
Du Plessis has played 41 matches at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, scoring 1,822 runs at an average of 43.38. It is comfortably his most-visited ground and one where he has consistently produced.
Strong recent form in SA20 and Nepal Premier League
His last ten innings include scores of 39, 44, 47, 36, 50 and 59. Three of those came in the SA20 in early January 2026, suggesting his eye is sharp heading into the next major T20 window.
What’s next
Upcoming matches
- Indian Premier League · M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru18 Apr15:30 IST
- Indian Premier League · Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad18 Apr19:30 IST
- Indian Premier League · Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad21 Apr19:30 IST
Official profile
Elsewhere on the web
ESPNcricinfo
F du Plessis's profile
Historical aggregates derived from Cricsheet (cricsheet.org) under ODC-BY licence. 2001/02–2026 IPL seasons. Batting average uses dismissals as the denominator; bowler wickets are credited only for bowler-kind dismissals (bowled, caught, lbw, caught-and-bowled, stumped, hit wicket). Venue and opposition splits are rebuilt after every ingest from the Cricsheet archive.