IPL 2022: Mike Hesson Explains How RCB Prepared To Bid For Faf du Plessis

Faf du Plessis was one of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s key acquisitions in the IPL 2022 mega auction. The franchise roped him in for 7 crores in the mega auction and might name him as the next skipper of the side. He is also expected to open the innings with Virat Kohli.

RCB won the bidding war against CSK and Delhi Capitals to add Faf du Plessis to their squad. He will fill in in the void created by the exit of AB De Villiers for the franchise. Mike Hesson, Director of Cricket Operations for RCB insisted that Faf has all the qualities RCB was looking for in a leader.

Faf Du Plessis Is Highly Experienced: Mike Hesson

“With the options we have in our current squad and the uncertainty surrounding those, and the options we have at the auction, where we think we can gain a real advantage is with Faf du Plessis who is highly experienced.

“He has captained South Africa for long, won the IPL many times and is a very consistent performer in terms of how he operates. He’s a strong character and highly respected. These are a lot of attributes you want in a leader,” said Hesson.

He explained the strategy that the franchise applied to bag the services of the former South African skipper. Hesson further said that none of the other franchises except CSK would go for Faf.

It Was Pretty Clear That CSK Would Like To Get Faf du Plessis Back: Mike Hesson

“It’s pretty clear that CSK will likely try and get him back, as they do with all their players. He’s also in the marquee group; for us to have some structure going forward, we need to allocate some budget to get that. We would want to go through teams who might look at him. CSK will obviously make a bid, no one will expect us in terms of who we are likely to go for,” said Hesson.

This is the first time Faf du Plessis will not be playing under MS Dhoni in the IPL. He has been playing in the IPL since 2012. The right-hander scored 2721 runs in 92 games for CSK and 214 runs in 8 games for Rising Pune Supergiants.

Also Read: IPL 2022: RCB, PBKS And KKR And CSK Will Go For Faf du Plessis, He Has Leadership Skills As Well – Brad Hogg