PICTURES: Faf du Plessis shows off new tattoo — and ripped body

Former South African cricket captain and Royal Challengers Bangalore star Faf du Plessis has revealed a new tattoo on his upper body — the word “Fazl” written in Arabic.

In images posted on social media, Du Plessis’ ripped upper body has also been commented on by admirers and cricket fans.

The word “Fazl” in Urdu translates to “grace” or “blessing”.

Du Plessis revealed the tattoo when he had to lift his playing shirt to receive treatment on a troublesome muscle injury during an Indian Premier League game on Monday.

Du Plessis, who is no longer a part of the Proteas T20 team, though he is available to play international cricket, has been in good form once again for RCB in the IPL.

On Monday he scored 62 runs off 33 balls with five fours and four sixes.

Despite the efforts of Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell (76 off 36) RCB fell eight runs short of their target in their IPL match against Du Plessis’ former team, Chennai Super Kings, at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

According to reports, including on crickettimes.com, Du Plessis believes that his life has undergone significant positive changes through the grace of God, which is why he decided to have this new tattoo, meaning “grace” or “blessing”.

The strapping around the cricketer’s upper body also had fans talking, but Du Plessis revealed after the match that he’d hurt his ribs during fielding in the first innings.

Crickettimes.com quoted Du Plessis from a television interview after the match: “I believe that I strained my muscles while fielding, and as the innings progressed during batting, I began to experience discomfort. I did not want to remove my shirt, but eventually, I had to do so.”