Sarfaraz Ahmed and Virat Kohli are similar captains; Dhoni quite different, insists Faf du Plessis

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been very successful in terms of leading his side across formats. His style of captaincy has always been intriguing to see as he wears his heart on his sleeves and doesn't shy away from expressing his feelings and emotions on the field. It has been a contrasting change of reins from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli given Dhoni was always cool and calm under different scenarios and in fact, it was one of his biggest strengths as he would never lose his patience even under pressure situations. 

Faf du Plessis, who has played under a variety of captains in different T20 leagues around the world, and is set to represent Quetta Gladiators, a side led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, drew a parallel between him and Virat Kohli as he feels both are quite similar in terms of captaining their sides. However, he feels that MS is quite unique in this aspect as he is very reserved on the ground. 

“Quite different… MS is quiet and reserved, does most of his things instinctively on the field. Sarfaraz is the opposite… almost like Virat. Always talking to the players, always to the bowlers, always very passionate about how he captains his team, and he shows it. So, there is no right and wrong way. These are just two different styles,” du Plessis said, reported HT.

Sarfaraz Ahmed remains the only Pakistan captain in the decade gone by to have led the side to an ICC title when he marched his troops successfully in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against arch-rivals India. A former captain himself, du Plessis stated that Sarfaraz knows how to get the job done. The 36-years-old further added that when it comes to him playing under different captains, he’s open to offering help in whatever way he can.

“He’s obviously been captain of Pakistan and has got the best out of players. I’ve always enjoyed playing under different leaders just to see how they go about their business because I also am pretty passionate about leadership myself so it’s nice for me to be able to see how he does things and offer my inputs if he wants to take it,” added du Plessis.

The 2021 edition of the PSL was postponed, earlier, this year, owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the bubbles. However, it is set to resume from June 9 in the Middle East.