5 lesser known instances when players excelled in pressure situations

#3. Faf Du Plessis v Australia, 3rd Test, South Africa vs Australia, Adelaide 2016

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South Africa had just done something really special: they had defeated Australia in Australia for the third series in a row! 2008, 2012 and 2016! They were now on course to hand Australia a whitewash in their own territory.

The cricketing fraternity was just starting to warm up to Faf Du Plessis's inspiring captaincy who in the absence of stellar players like Ab De Villiers and Dale Steyn, had marshalled his resources remarkably well and was on par to deliver a record breaking series win.

But things were about to take a turn for the worse for the affable Du Plessis. A controversial video alleging him of ball tampering made headlines much more than it should have, and suddenly Du Plessis was the bad guy.

Australia had just lost a series of massive proportions, and suddenly the Australian media got enough fodder to distract the attention of the public away from the drubbing the national team had just received. The week should have been Du Plessis’ time to bask in the glory of defeating Australia in Australia, but somehow he was in the news for all the wrong reasons. Some even called for him to be suspended. All for a controversial video?

He was then heckled by a Channel Nine Reporter at the airport. Surely an international cricketer being manhandled off the field is a sad thing for the game, right? Du Plessis handled all this perfectly. It was clear that he was saddened by the turn of events, but he didn't let his emotions show.

He walks out to bat in the final test, and to no one’s surprise, The Australian Crowd is all over him, booing him to the crease. The team is enduring a troubled phase and Starc and Bird are causing all kinds of problems, but Du Plessis digs in. Nobody else makes more than 40, but Du Plessis goes on to make a century.

It was a day night test and the ball is swinging all around the place. But nothing could trouble Du Plessis. He was, as great players like to call it, in the zone! He raised his bat after his century, but the crowd boo him further.

Surely this was getting ridiculous, isn’t it? But on that day, nothing seemed to budge him. He had the yogic ability to shut off the outer nonsense and gather hidden mental reserves required to pull off such an epic.

The innings though was a one man show, and Usman Khawaja's 145 wrested the match back in Australia's control. Australia eventually won the match and though Du Plessis's outstanding innings couldn't help prevent a defeat, on a personal level he ended up unbeaten.