Cape Town - Faf du Plessis believes his best position to play for the Proteas in T20 cricket is as an opening batsman.
Du Plessis sat out South Africa's first two T20 clashes in the tri-series in Zimbabwe due to a rotational policy but will get his first taste of T20 cricket for his country when the Proteas tackle Bangladesh in Harare on Friday.
It is still unsure where in the batting order Du Plessis will feature but the 27-year-old says the recent IPL in India made him realise where he's best suited at in the shortest format of the game.
He regularly opened the batting for the Chennai Super Kings, for whom he scored 398 runs in 12 innings at a healthy average and strike rate of 33.16 and 130.92 respectively.
"I've batted almost my whole career at No 3 and 4 but I realised during the IPL that my game is best suited to open in T20 cricket," he told Die Burger.
"I don’t need to take risks for boundaries at the beginning of the innings. I can hit to ball over the fielders with normal cricket shots.
"(But) I'm not sure where I'm going to bat. Gary (Kirsten, SA coach) asked me where I'd like to bat and I told him I really want to open."
However, it will be tough for Du Plessis to establish himself in that position for the Proteas. Richard Levi, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla are currently ahead of him in the pecking order.
Du Plessis sat out South Africa's first two T20 clashes in the tri-series in Zimbabwe due to a rotational policy but will get his first taste of T20 cricket for his country when the Proteas tackle Bangladesh in Harare on Friday.
It is still unsure where in the batting order Du Plessis will feature but the 27-year-old says the recent IPL in India made him realise where he's best suited at in the shortest format of the game.
He regularly opened the batting for the Chennai Super Kings, for whom he scored 398 runs in 12 innings at a healthy average and strike rate of 33.16 and 130.92 respectively.
"I've batted almost my whole career at No 3 and 4 but I realised during the IPL that my game is best suited to open in T20 cricket," he told Die Burger.
"I don’t need to take risks for boundaries at the beginning of the innings. I can hit to ball over the fielders with normal cricket shots.
"(But) I'm not sure where I'm going to bat. Gary (Kirsten, SA coach) asked me where I'd like to bat and I told him I really want to open."
However, it will be tough for Du Plessis to establish himself in that position for the Proteas. Richard Levi, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla are currently ahead of him in the pecking order.