South Africa vs New Zealand 2016: Faf du Plessis feels the Proteas almost played a perfect test
The skipper of South Africa’s current test side, Faf du Plessis is quite happy and satisfied with the performance put up by his team in the second test vs New Zealand. He expressed his joy when talking to media after clinching the two-match series 1-0.
The South African team seemed completely dispirited after their loss in the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup. While some players could not hold back the tears in their eyes, others offered solace to the heartbroken fans by hugging them at the airport on their arrival back home.
After faltering just one step away from the cup which never seems to go their way, the entire team was shattered, losing faith, hope and passion.
"We've found our passion again and why we want to win games," he said. "The team space is good and that reflects directly on our performances." He explained how broken the entire team was on the night of the semi-final, which signified another four years of wait, the wait of winning the World Cup at least once.
He further disclosed that in order to instill hope in the team again, intense discussions took place to analyze a firm strategy to bounce back in all formats of the game.
"We felt we needed to improve again. We couldn't rest on our laurels as the previous Test team did because with this team we are not good enough to do that yet," du Plessis said.
It looks like the team is determined to overcome the hurtful memories of the past and concentrate on the future. “We almost played the perfect Test. If I could write a script to write it the way I would like, that's the way I would have scripted it," du Plessis concluded.
Du Plessis also emphasized on the need to change the attitude of the current team, without which their ranking wouldn’t change. The present squad lost to England and India, slipping from the No.1 position down to No. 7.
It is disappointing to go from 1 to 7: Steyn
On the other hand, Dale Steyn, who was deprived of six of the eight Tests held last season due to an injury, feels that the previous South African team was too good to lose.
“It was very disappointing. I can't say what it was like because I wasn't part of the teams that lost but it is disappointing to go from 1 to 7," he said.
The bowling spearhead lauded the performance of the team and called it a by-product of sheer determination and hard-work. Now that the players have got back their confidence, and the capabilities to transform into a good team once again, much of pressure is relived off players like De Villiers and Morne Morkel.