Faf du Plessis recalls South Africa’s heartbreaking exit from 2011 World Cup: I received death threats

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis revealed that he and his wife received death threats on social media after his team’s exit from the 2011 ICC World Cup in India and Bangladesh. The Proteas had crashed out of the showpiece event after losing to New Zealand in the quarterfinals in Dhaka.

The Graeme Smith-led South African side were bowled out for 172 in chase of a below-par target of 222 against the Black Caps, who posted 221 for 8 thanks to the knocks played by Jesse Ryder (83), Ross Taylor (43) and Kane Williamson (38 not out).

Jacob Oram and Nathan McCullum starred with the ball for the Kiwis with 7 wickets between themselves. New Zealand, led by Daniel Vettori, reached the semi-finals where they lost to Sri Lanka.

“I received death threats after that [match]. My wife received death threats. We turned on social media and we were blown away. It became very personal. There were some very offensive things said that I won’t repeat,” du Plessis told ESPN Cricinfo.

“It makes you introverted towards people and you put a shield up. All players go through this and it forces us to keep our circles very small. It’s why I’ve worked so hard on creating a safe space within our camp,” he added.

du Plessis was in super form with the bat for Chennai Super Kings in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, scoring 320 runs from 7 games at an average of 64 before the tournament was suspended indefinitely after 6 players, 2 support staff members and a bus cleaner tested positive for Covid-19 in New Delhi and Ahmedabad.

The CSK opener was the third highest scorer in the halted tournament behind Delhi Capitals veteran Shikhar Dhawan (380 runs) and Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul (331 runs).