Faf du Plessis revealed that he wanted something special, so he got the date of his first South African cricket match inked on his arm. Du Plessis and his RCB teammate Virat Kohli share a common interest in tattoos, and the two are often asked about them. The Indian skipper even got a new tattoo done just before joining the Bangalore camp for IPL 2023.
Faf du Plessis shared the story of his first tattoo and its importance to him in a video shared on the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s YouTube channel. He said:
“My first one was, I always wanted to get something, but I wasn’t sure what to get, so I just said to myself, I’ll know when it is the right thing to get. (Pointing to the tattoo) That’s the first day that I played for South Africa against India – My debut against India, where I scored 60 or something.
“You want to remember that. Obviously, it’s imprinted in your brain, but every time you look at your arm, you want to remember that special day.”
On January 18th, 2011, the 38-year-old made his international debut in an ODI against India at Cape Town. He put up a stellar performance, scoring 60 off of 78 balls as South Africa batted first after winning the toss. Unfortunately, his effort was to no avail, as India managed to chase down the target of 221 with two wickets remaining.
‘Not sure that’s my look’: Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis was asked about his appearance from earlier years, something he isn’t exactly proud of. He admitted:
“I look at myself without a beard, and I go, ‘not sure that’s my look.’ And then two, there would be a lot of pictures when I was just out of school when you go through that rebellious phase because you want to grow your hair.
“At school, they tell you, everything needs to be neat and short. I had this long surfer locks with blonde highlights that I made myself.”
Faf du Plessis was impressive in his performances for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2022. In 16 matches, he amassed 468 runs at an average of 31.20 with a strike rate of 127.52, which included three half-centuries.