Did you know Faf du Plessis received ‘death threats’ after South Africa’s heartbreaking exit from 2011 World Cup?

After a mix-up with AB de Villiers resulted in the latter being run out during South Africa's 2011 World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand, former captain Faf du Plessis has disclosed that he and his wife received death threats.

South Africa were eliminated from the tournament after losing by 49 runs to co-hosts India at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.

“I received death threats after that (match). My wife received death threats. We turned on social media and we were blown away. It became very personal. There were some very offensive things said that I won”t repeat,” he said in an exclusive interview. 

“It makes you introverted towards people and you put a shield up. All players go through this and it forces us to keep our circles very small. It”s why I”ve worked so hard on creating a safe space within our camp,” he added.

New Zealand batted first and scored 221 for 8 in 50 overs, led by Daniel Vettori. The Proteas were bowled out for 172 in reply, with du Plessis making 36 in only his 10th ODI.

In addition, du Plessis was fined 50% of his match fee for pushing Kyle Mills, New Zealand's 12th man, during the game.

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Since then, the right-handed batsman has appeared in 143 One-Day Internationals, 69 Tests, and 50 Twenty-20 Internationals.

After playing for Chennai Super Kings in the now-suspended Indian Premier League 2021, Du Plessis recently returned home.

He was in excellent form with the bat, scoring 320 runs in seven games before the tournament was called off indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.