Faf du Plessis calls Hashim Amla \'father figure\' of South Africa team

New Delhi: A day after South Africa batsman Hashim Amla announced his retirement from international cricket, skipper Faf du Plessis on Friday praised the batsman for his legendary career and called him 'father figure' of the Proteas.

"The mighty # @amlahash...The father figure of our team. So much wisdom, so much humility, always a smile on ur face and has been the rock of the batting line up for as long as I can remember. Well done on ur legendary career bud. THANK YOU !!! We definitely gonna miss you," Du Plessis tweeted on Friday.

Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar also wished Amla a 'wonderful retired life'.

"You have served your country with great distinction and been a source of inspiration for many youngsters @amlahash! Wishing you a wonderful retired life. Good luck my friend," Tendulkar wrote.

Amla is the only South African to have scored a triple century in the Test format. He also has the highest Test score by a South African batsman against England, India and the West Indies.

Moreover, the 36-year-old was also named as the Proteas cricketer of the year in 2010 and 2013. Amla played 124 Tests for South Africa, scoring 9282 runs in them at an average of 46.41.

He went on to represent Proteas in 181 ODIs and he was able to amass 8113 runs in the format.

In the shortest format of the game, the cricketer was able to reinvent himself, as he played 44 T20Is for the Proteas, scoring 9277 runs in them at an average of 33.61.