Faf du Plessis Is 41 and Just Became the Oldest T20 Centurion in History — Driven by Fear

The fourth season of Major League Cricket opened on Wednesday night at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. Tim Seifert had just made 104 for the Seattle Orcas to post 220/2 — a total that should have been enough. It was the kind of score that separates serious T20 sides from pretenders. Then Faf du Plessis walked out to bat.

What followed was not a knock. It was a rebuttal to biology. Du Plessis reached his century off 45 balls, finished unbeaten on 113 off 52, and the Texas Super Kings chased 221 with nine balls to spare. Six-wicket win. A strike rate of 217.31. In the process, at 41 years and 340 days, he became the oldest man in history to score a T20 century — obliterating Paul Collingwood's record of 41 years and 65 days set back in 2017.

Most cricketers at 41 are doing commentary. Du Plessis is doing things that 25-year-olds with IPL contracts can't.

Here's what makes the record more than just a number. Du Plessis didn't stumble into this innings because the cricket calendar handed it to him. He chose it. He opted out of IPL 2026 — the richest league in the world, the one that pays the most and asks the least of your body — and went to the PSL instead. Then he showed up in Dallas for MLC. At 41, he is deliberately seeking out cricket that doesn't need him, in leagues that can't pay him what Mumbai or Bangalore could, because he wants to play more, not less.

That is the opposite of how aging works in cricket. The usual trajectory is: retire from Tests, hang on in ODIs, milk the IPL until the auction stops calling. Du Plessis retired from South Africa internationals years ago, but instead of shrinking his map, he expanded it. SA20. PSL. MLC. The man has more franchise stamps in his passport than most players have caps.

And here's the thing that should terrify every young opener in every T20 league on Earth: he's not slowing down. He's accelerating.

Spare a thought for Tim Seifert. The New Zealand keeper-batter played the innings of his life — 104 off Seattle's 220/2 — and left the field as a footnote. That's what du Plessis does. He doesn't just win matches; he erases the opposition's highlight reel. Seifert's century was muscular, well-paced, the kind of knock that normally dominates the post-match package. Instead, the cameras were tracking a 41-year-old's bat as it deposited deliveries into the Dallas night sky.

The chase was never really in doubt once du Plessis decided it wouldn't be. TSK reached their target with nine balls remaining, and Wiaan Mulder (31*) played the understated supporting role while du Plessis turned the Grand Prairie Stadium into a highlights factory.

What makes du Plessis different from every other player who's "still got it" at 40 isn't talent. It's motivation structure. Most veterans play on because they love the game or because the money is good. Du Plessis plays on because he's afraid of stopping. That quote — "I have this fear of not living up to my full potential" — isn't motivational poster material. It's a clinical description of what drives elite performers past the point where everyone expects them to stop.

Think about what he's saying. He's not afraid of failure. He's afraid of capacity — the idea that there were runs left in his bat that he didn't bother to score, centuries he could have made but chose comfort over discomfort. That's why he's in Dallas instead of doing punditry. That's why he chose the PSL over the IPL's payday. That's why, at 41 years and 340 days, he walked out under lights in Texas and hit 113 off 52 balls like he was 27 and angry.

Du Plessis now sits fourth on the all-time T20 centuries list — behind Chris Gayle (22), Babar Azam (11), and Rilee Rossouw and Virat Kohli (9 each) — with 8 centuries. He's also the first batter in history to score two T20 centuries after turning 40. The first one was remarkable. The second one is a pattern.

He holds the record for most T20 centuries as captain, breaking the mark he shared with Babar Azam and Michael Klinger (7 each). He's the all-time leading run-scorer in MLC history. And he's doing all of this while some of the people he's competing against weren't born when he made his first-class debut.

There will come a day when Faf du Plessis plays his last T20 innings. But if you're a bowler in the MLC this season, don't bet on that day being soon. The man who fears unfulfilled potential just walked out on opening night and broke a record that stood for nine years — and he looked like he had plenty more left in the tank.