Motivation of five-nil will mean a lot – Faf du Plessis

South African skipper Faf du Plessis is keen on completing the whitewash against Australia. Leading 4-0 in the series, South Africa look good to finish the series on a high. No team has ever achieved a whitewash against Australia in ODI history. Faf Du Plessis is very well aware of it. He wishes to accomplish the rare feat. The skipper  believes that the whitewash will give South Africa an edge in the Test series when they tour Australia.

South Africa is scheduled to play 3 Tests against Australia in Australia starting from November 3. The Australians have failed miserably in the ODI series. They will only be hoping to turn the tables in their backyard. South African skipper is not bothered by it anyway. He emphasized on the mental aspect of the game ahead of the final ODI.

He pointed out how winning the final game could be beneficial to them for the upcoming Tests. He said his team is keen on not losing any mental point that they can secure. He quoted, “I appreciate that it’s a different format, but if you play against Australia every single mental thing you can have on your side does play a role.”

He further added that it is this psychological advantage that serves as the motivational factor for his side. He cites that the Test tour would be tough. He rightly says that beating Australia in their backyard will be an uphill task. Thus having a 5-0 advantage will work in their favor morally.

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“So that’s a big driving factor for me – to try and make sure we win five-nil because that’s huge confidence. We know it’s going to be an extremely tough (Test) tour. Beating them in Australia is possibly up there with the toughest tours Test-wise, but a five-nil score line would be another one percent in our favour,” quoted Faf du Plessis.

He had his homework done and knew that Australia have never been whitewashed 5-0. He also expressed the team’s desire to accomplish the feat. “Five-nil has never been done against Australia so it’s something that we as team really want to do. We want to go places where no other South African team have been. We want to reach higher levels and achieve greater things than anyone else,” quoted the South African skipper.

Du Plessis has been named as the stand-in captain of the Test team in absence of AB de Villiers. He pointed out that there is very little time between the ODI series and the Tests. Hence, the players involved would be more or less the same.”The fact that the Test series comes straight after this (ODI tour), sixty per cent to seventy per cent of both teams’ players are the same. So that motivation of five-nil will mean a lot to me,” he remarked.

He commended his team’s effort. He was proud of the fact that South Africa have completely outplayed Australia. “We haven’t allowed them to compete with us at times, and even when they looked like they were going to compete we held them and stuck it out and waited for the opportunity. It’s happening more regularly now in this team that guys are doing amazing things,” marked du Plessis.

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On the contrary, the Australian bowling coach David Saker wished to believe the other way. He admitted that South Africa have played well. However, he added that beating Australia in Australia will not be easy at all.  You can’t always read too much into one-day cricket and what the South Africans will be thinking is they’ll be quite confident after they’ve done well,” Saker said. But Australia in Australia is a different kettle of fish,” quoted Saker.

He further pointed out that Test cricket is a different format and the ODI results will not determine the mindset for a Test match.”We’ll have a good look at the opposition that we’re playing and make sure we come up with some really good plans. Test cricket is a different ball game all together and … it’s heating up to be a fantastic summer against those guys,” he added further.