SA vs AUS 2018: Faf Du Plessis says that he is Ready for the Mind Games against Australia

The first Test between South Africa and Australia is scheduled to begin on 1^st March, and both the teams have already started with the mind games.

With Australian captain, Steve Smith suggesting that they might go after the young pacer Kagiso Rabada and try to provoke him the South African captain Faf Du Plessis has indicated that he is ready for the mind games.

Du Plessis has not played any cricket since the first ODI against India after breaking his right index finger at Kingsmead but has declared himself ready for the first Test to be played at the same venue.

Du Plessis explained that more than recovering from his finger injury it is more about preparing himself for the mind games against the mighty Aussies.

Du Plessis said:

“I’ve played with finger injuries before. The biggest battle to get over is the mental side of things. I’ve had three good nets over the last three days to hit a lot of balls. The biggest thing for me is to be ready for the mental battle and I am ready for that.”

Du Plessis said that the recent series against India shows how spending time in the middle is important for a player,

“Before the India series, I didn’t have a net for two months and then I had two or three nets and then I played the first Test against India. If you look at preparing, I was probably underprepared, but mentally I was in a good space and I felt good going in.” 

The Proteas skipper also hopes that the wicket in the upcoming series will be better to bat on unlike the in the series against India:

“I’m looking forward to seeing how our batsmen do in this series. I think wickets will be a little bit better. The Indian series was very bowling-friendly conditions – probably the most we’ve played in in South Africa before. And the runs that were scored in that series was not a direct reflection of guys’ form.”

Here’s the news feed:

Australian skipper Steve Smith names an unchanged XI for the first Tests against South Africa

SA vs. AUS 2018: Australia Ask Local Broadcasters to Turn Stump Microphones off