FAF DU PLESSIS

Faf du Plessis is one of the most celebrated and resilient T20 batters of his generation, and arrives in Rotterdam as the captain of the Dockers carrying a CV that very few players in the history of franchise cricket can match. Born on 13 July 1984 in Pretoria, South Africa, the right-handed opener and former South Africa captain across all formats has spent the better part of fifteen years at the top of the game -- and at 41, he shows no sign of slowing down.

Du Plessis made his T20 international debut in September 2012 and went on to captain South Africa in the format across two World Cup campaigns. In 50 T20I appearances, he scored 1,528 runs at an average of 36. But it is in franchise cricket where his legacy as a T20 batter is truly written. He surpassed 12,000 runs in T20 cricket in January 2026 -- the first South African cricketer ever to reach that milestone -- doing so in 429 matches across a career that has taken him to franchise competitions in India, South Africa, the United States, the UAE and Pakistan. In India's domestic T20 league alone, he has played over 150 matches, including two title wins with a Chennai-based franchise in 2018 and 2021, during the latter of which he struck 86 off 59 balls in the final and was named Player of the Match. He also captained a Bengaluru-based franchise between 2022 and 2024 and a Texas-based franchise in the United States T20 league.

In the South African T20 league, Du Plessis made further history by scoring the competition's first ever century -- an unbeaten 113 off 56 balls for the Johannesburg franchise in the 2023 inaugural season. A natural captain and an instinctive big-game performer, he brings to Rotterdam an intensity and intelligence that few cricketers anywhere can replicate.