du Plessis was often called the magic dragon slayer of Australians and 2010s turned out to be a decade when South Africa dominated Australia like no other team in International Cricket.

[12] After making his T20 debut in September 2012, he was subsequently also named T20 captain[13] of South Africa for the following Twenty20 series against New Zealand and confirmed full-time skipper in February 2013.

[15][16] In February 2021 he announced his retirement from Test cricket in order to focus on the 2021 and 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cups.

Lancashire coach Mike Watkinson praised du Plessis' fielding, saying "if there's a better fielder in county cricket I've not seen him this season".

[22] Along with Jonathan Vandiar, Dean Elgar, and Ethi Mbhalati, du Plessis was one of four uncapped players to be named in South Africa's 30-man preliminary squad for the 2011 World Cup.

[30] In the same month, he was picked by Peshawar Zalmi to feature in the delayed playoffs of the fifth season of the Pakistan Super League as a replacement for Kieron Pollard.

[32] In February 2021, he was signed by the Quetta Gladiators for the 2021 Pakistan Super League[33] but, in June 2021, he was ruled out of the rest of the tournament due a concussion sustained during a match[34] after colliding with teammate Mohammad Hasnain.

[38] In the 2022 Indian Premier League auction, du Plessis was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore;[39] and named as team's captain on 12 March 2022.

[43] In November 2022, the Perth Scorchers drafted him for the first half of the 2022–23 Big Bash League season as a replacement for Laurie Evans.

He was chosen ahead of Albie Morkel for the 2011 World Cup on the Indian Sub-continent and later made his Test debut for South Africa against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2012 as the number 6 batsman, replacing the injured JP Duminy.

du Plessis made his maiden ODI hundred on 27 August 2014 against Australia after scoring 106 off 98 balls while chasing 327 runs to win.

On 6 September 2014 against Australia, du Plessis fell only four runs short of becoming the first batsman in history to score 4 ODI hundreds in a row.

Needing only 1 run to win the game with plenty of wickets and balls in hand, du Plessis was on 96 and therefore had to hit a boundary (barring any extras) in order to reach 4 ODI hundreds in a row, but while attempting to hit a boundary he was caught off the bowling of Australia's spear-head Mitchell Johnson.

This victory also secured South Africa as the winners of the ODI tri-series, and du Plessis subsequently became Man of the Series.

For the 2016–17 Australian tour of South Africa to play five ODIs, du Plessis was named captain after original skipper AB de Villiers was ruled out due to a surgery.

du Plessis is noted for his leadership and strategical excellence,[53] but he is also known for emphasizing team culture, relationships and listening to his players.

On 24 August 2017, du Plessis was named as the captain in all three formats when de Villiers stepped down from ODI captaincy.

[56] Following the conclusion of the series, Faf du Plessis said how much it meant for the people of Pakistan and that it hopefully will bring cricket back to the country.

The second incident against Australia involved du Plessis rubbing what looked like a "lolly" or mint, on the ball in order to make one side sticky.

His teammate Hashim Amla defended him in a statement to the Australian media about the incident stating that the tampering claims were "a joke" and called them "ridiculous".

He attended alongside fellow Titans cricketers AB de Villiers, Heino Kuhn and Jacques Rudolph.

[102][103] His sister Rhemi is married to fellow South African international cricketer Hardus Viljoen in December 2019.

du Plessis admitted that due to his ignorance, he silenced the struggles of others when he previously stated he does not see colour: "[I] acknowledge that South Africa is still hugely divided by racism and it is my personal responsibility to do my best to emphasise, hear the stories, learn and then be part of the solution with my thoughts, words and actions".

[108][109] Following the publication of his autobiography, du Plessis remarked in an interview, "I asked myself the question: 'If you write this book, what are the kind of things people resonate with you as a person, as a leader?'