New Delhi: It started with hashtags #superfafmoment, then there's also #whistlepodu. This is how Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans are celebrating the 33rd birthday of Faf du Plessis, the South African batsman who once helped the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise with many memorable knocks.


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The Chennai-based franchise, which is sure to make a return in the IPL fold next season after serving a two-year ban for it's 'association' with Gurunath Meiyappan – who was guilty of bringing the game of cricket into disrepute and banned for life by the Supreme Court.


With the dawn of its revival in sight, CSK has already started doing the groundwork for a stronger return. In fact, Meiyappan himself resurfaced, at least on social media platforms, after spending more than three years in forced hibernation.


It's worth noting that Meiyappan, son-in-law of CSK owner and once a BCCI heavyweight N Srinivasan, was the central figure in the 2013 IPL betting scandal which rocked the nation. The scandal led to the formation of the Lodha Committee, and the downfall of Srinivasan, if we may say.


Then, today, CSK fans took to micro-blogging site Twitter to wish Faf a happy birthday. The official handle of the franchise also asked fans to share their favourite #superfafmoment! And one particular moment was this:




For the record, Faf joined CSK in 2011 for US$120,000, and became an integral part of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team, winning the title in his first season itself. CSK has played three more finals, losing them all – in 2012, 2013 and 2015.


By the way, the following is what he had said about the world's most watched cricket league during South Africa's tour of India in 2015:


"I can only speak from personal point of view that IPL has only helped change my game tremendously. I have learnt a lot about batting under these conditions. I have been fortunate to have a good leadership, in terms of my understanding of captaincy," Du Plessis said.


Du Plessis also shared his profound respect for Dhoni.


"I always ask him (Dhoni), how is he so cool. I can say two things about Dhoni. I have been fortunate to have played under him and I have huge amount of respect for him. Secondly I know what he brings to the table. He is a calm captain and knows how to handle pressure situations. You can learn to be your own man," he added.


In the last two seasons, Faf had turned up for Rising Pune Supergiant. And by the look of things, he is likely to return to CSK, once the franchise gets reactivated.


Faf is currently leading the Proteas in a Test series in England. He has played 40 Tests, 113 ODIs and 36 T20Is, scoring 2426, 4168 and 1129 runs respectively.


The right-handed batsman made his international debut in an ODI match against India at Cape Town in 2011.