Faf du Plessis says he is delighted how Reeza Hendricks has added consistency to his game, writes KHALID MOHIDIN. 

Hendricks came on to the national scene in November 2014 in the T20I series in Australia. He scored a duck on his T20I debut, followed by 19 and 49. His next series came against the West Indies in January 2015, where he scored 12, followed by 42.

This wasn’t enough for regular selection and saw Hendricks not play another game for the Proteas until two years later. He struggled once again in 2017, racking up 41 on his return to the national setup against Sri Lanka in January, followed by a three, a seven and a duck.

In 2018 he was given another run in the shortest format, scoring a 70, 26 and seven against India, followed by 19 against Sri Lanka and Australia.

The 29-year-old put that behind him, continued to graft on the domestic level and reinvented his game. He managed to receive his ODI debut in Sri Lanka and scored 102. He then backed this up by scoring 379 runs in the Mzansi Super League, followed by even more impressive performances for the national side in both ODIs and T20Is.

This newly-found consistency in his game has impressed his skipper Du Plessis, who complimented Hendricks after the Proteas’ six-run win against Pakistan on Saturday. The two, Hendricks (74) and Du Plessis (78), set a record partnership of 131.

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‘What I’m really liking about what Reeza is doing at the moment is how he has improved his consistency,’ said Du Plessis. 

‘We’ve always known that Reeza has a bit of flair. He’s one of those guys that is just beautiful to watch when he plays the cover drive or back-foot drive.

‘But it’s a bit more about consistency, and I feel Reeza has added that to his game after the Mzansi (Super League), where he has become really consistent and is starting to do it a little bit more now. 

‘It’s not just one in every five knocks, it’s starting to become three out of five and that’s really important, especially for the one-day team.’

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images