Faf du Plessis admits South Africa form is ‘embarrassing’ with disastrous World Cup ‘chipping away’ at his confidence and ego

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis admitted that the failures of his team are “chipping away” at him after another defeat at Lord’s today. South Africa lost to Pakistan by 49 runs, ending their slim chances of progress to the semi-finals, and Du Plessis laid bare his frustrations afterward in a heartfelt press conference.

Du Plessis kept saying how hard it was to see his team “making the same mistakes” after their fifth defeat of a disastrous tournament. And he was clear how much of a toll it was taking on him personally to see South Africa keep losing, so low on confidence, and unable to do anything about it. He said it was personally “embarrassing” for him as the captain.

Asked whether this was the “worst performance” he had ever been involved with, Du Plessis said that would be “harsh”, but did open up about how “frustrating” it was for him as captain.

“I feel that we keep making the same mistakes over and over again,” he said. “It probably started with our bowling... today they were well below par with their performances, bar Imran Tahir who was exceptional, the rest of the guys were 5 out of 10 performances with the ball.

“Pakistan scored 30 runs too many. And it was the same thing with the bat once again. We started the innings by losing a wicket. Get a partnership going, and lose a wicket. I feel like I am saying the same things over and over again, it’s really frustrating. We are playing with low confidence, and making mistakes.”

Du Plessis has had to preside over a disastrous tournament and he was honest about how difficult he is finding it right now. “It is a difficult one, and the real honest answer is that it chips away at you,” he said. “We are trying very, very, hard and then coming and playing another game, and the same thing happens again, and you train hard again, and make the same mistake again. It chips away at your confidence, it chips away at your ego, it chips away at you as a player.”

The South African captain did not spare any words for his team and was very critical of the way that they are consistently making the same mistakes. “I thought before today, that even though we were losing, I thought we were on an upwards curve in the cricket we were playing, we started doing more things right since the Afghanistan and New Zealand games. But today was a step back, and that is not a great team. We are a mediocre team at the moment because we keep making the same mistakes all the time.”

So Du Plessis revealed that he felt embarrassed by the recent failures of the team at this World Cup. “I am a very proud player and captain, and playing for South Africa means a lot for me,” he said. “The fact that results have been the issue at the moment, it is really, really tough, and it is becoming a bit embarrassing. We are trying but it is just not good enough. I am human as well, and it keeps chipping at me as well. But I don’t have the opportunity to go anywhere, it is important the coach, myself and the senior players need to front up to this challenge.”