Du Plessis Says Toughest Challenge for Motie, Hosein Lies Against South Africa and India

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis believes West Indian spinners are currently performing well in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, but their real test will come against South Africa and India in the upcoming matches. He applauded Akeal Hosein’s brilliance against Zimbabwe, saying he outclassed Brian Bennett perfectly in the match.

"I think tactically they were smart. Akeal Hosein, throwing the ball to him for someone like Bennett, not having seen him before, and that was an absolute beauty," said Faf du Plessis.

He further said that Akeal is a kind of bowler who beats the bat on the inside edge, making him a very difficult bowler to face in the middle overs.

"You normally don't associate him beating the bat on the outside. He normally beats you on the inside quite often. So when a ball spins and bounces like that, it shows you it's a quality ball.” said Faf du Plessis.

“The way he started the innings... they are two very different spinners. One is a powerplay... almost like a [Samuel] Badree, brilliant in the powerplay, and Motie comes in after six and he just shuts the game down." added Faf du Plessis.

He then spoke about the upcoming challenge for Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie in the matches against South Africa and India. Du Plessis said it would be interesting to see how both players will respond to this challenge, as it would require different tactics from them in the matches.

"I saw them in South Africa. And I have played a lot of cricket with and against both of them. Amazing spinners. If there's a little bit of something in the wicket, both of them [will exploit it]," said Faf du Plessis.

"But the test will come now when they play against a lot of lefties in India, how're they going to respond to that, and South Africa played both of them really well in South Africa [in the T20I series in January this year]." added Faf du Plessis