IPL 2023 | MS Dhoni is oddly impressive with tactics as captain, lauds Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis has heaped praise on MS Dhoni in an RCB Podcast.
|(IPL)
Faf du Plessis has heaped praise on MS Dhoni, saying the latter is tactically so impressive that he rates among his top three favourite leaders. The RCB captain then revealed how during his younger days, he improved himself as a leader with learnings from Dhoni, Stephen Fleming, and Graeme Smith.
MS Dhoni, highly regarded as Indiaâs most successful captain of all time, has earned a legion of followers over the years. Faf du Plessis is one of them, and in a recent chat on RCB Podcast, he revealed how much admiration he has got for the man under whom he enjoyed significant success at Chennai Super Kings (CSK). At the same time, the South African international highlighted how he gradually developed under him, former national team captain Graeme Smith, and CSK head coach Stephen Fleming.
âI always had this leadership perspective of learning from great leaders, it (leadership) was always something that I was fascinated about. When I initially came into the South African team, Graeme Smith was the captain. I was like, Wow, this guyâs got an amazing presence when he speaks - like this big, blinding roar at you, and he just dominated the room while speaking. So I was like, thatâs a leader, right?â du Plessis said in an RCB podcast.
âI got an opportunity to go to Chennai (CSK) at a young phase in my career. Stephen Fleming is one of the great leaders within the game, obviously, for New Zealand cricket also. The different aspect was him being a man manager, a guy who just works on relationships. And I go, 'Wow, thatâs impressive.' During my first season at CSK, I was sitting next to him (Fleming) and just asked him questions about captaincy and leadership, just to learn as much as I can. And then you put MS (Dhoni) on top of that, and you go, 'Wow, this guyâs (Dhoni) tactically odd to read the game like this.' And you go, 'Okay, he is impressive as a captain.'â
However, du Plessis further remarked he has always tried to be unique while taking guidance from the other three.
âI think what was really good for me to go through (during his career) was the conviction that I am not going to be Graeme Smith as a captain, Iâm not going to be Stephen Fleming as a captain, Iâm not going to be MS Dhoni as a captain,â du Plessis added.
âIn order for me to be true to who I am as a person, I need to be me. Because if youâre not being you, then people will see through it, maybe not when youâre doing well but definitely when you are under pressure, or underperforming, the real you will reveal itself.â
RCB will begin IPL 2023 against Mumbai India on April 2 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. On the other hand, Dhoniâs CSK will play the curtain raiser against defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
