Former South African captain Faf du Plessis heaped praise on India's Virat Kohli for infusing great competitive spirit and zeal into his teammates as he was discussing his captaincy stint with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL 2022.
He further opened up about his relationship with Kohli, the former RCB captain, and how his competitive spirit makes him the most enjoyable cricketer on the field.
The Proteas star also stressed that he would never try to compete with the Indian legend, as he is already a much bigger alpha than him and others in the team.
Faf du Plessis said in an interaction with The Grade Cricketer: “He’s a much bigger alpha (male) than me. You don’t try and compete. The ego is the thing where peacocks generally clash. Then like the feathers come out and you want to see who has got the shiniest in the room.”
He continued, “Luckily, I get that about people and relationships. I don’t try and outshine someone else in the dressing room. I try and build a relationship. With Virat, that was exactly my point of entry.”
Meanwhile, the veteran right-hander has also described Kohli as "superhuman" for his competitive spirit, which has always been a talking point ever since he burst into the international arena.
The 38-year-old said, “I had played against him for so long. He is one of the most competitive guys in the world of cricket to play against. You sit there and you go - how does this guy have so much energy? Every single time a wicket falls, doesn’t matter if it’s a No.11 or an opening batter, his passion for celebration is like you just have to go, ‘I’ll take my hats off to you’. He’s superhuman.”
Du Plessis signed off by saying, “When you play with him, you see there is the other side, which is this caring guy that just wants to play cricket, and actually a really family guy. He’s amazing.”
