MS Dhoni Was The Complete Opposite Of What I Thought: Faf du Plessis On CSK Stalwart's Leadership
Published - 13 Mar 2022, 07:29 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:05 AM
South Africa batter Faf du Plessis said he found MS Dhoni completely different when he joined Chennai Super Kings in 2012. Du Plessis was an integral part of CSK and won two IPL titles with the ‘Yellow Brigade’. The South African batter amassed 2932 runs from 93 innings at the strike rate of 132.
Du Plessis fired 86 from 59 balls, striking seven fours and three sixes, as CSK posted 192 in the final against KKR. Dhoni and his men won the match by 27 runs to clinch their fourth IPL title.
MS Dhoni was the complete opposite of what I thought: Faf du Plessis
The former South Africa skipper has been sharing the dressing room with Dhoni throughout his IPL career be it for CSK or a couple of years with Rising Pune Supergiant when the Yellow Army was banned in the period of 2016-17.
Talking about his early experience with CSK, Faf said that Dhoni was very opposite of what he had thought about India’s iconic cricketer.
“The crazy thing is, when I started over in Chennai, I had this idea of what captaincy looks like. And MS was the complete opposite of what I thought it would have looked like!
“Because my culture was South African, right? So I came to this environment and I was like, ‘this guy was completely different than I thought what it should be!” Faf said in a video uploaded on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s YouTube channel.
I can’t try to be Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni: Faf du Plessis on his leadership role
On Saturday, Faf was named the new skipper of RCB and the South African star batter will take over the reins from Virat Kohli who led RCB in 140 matches having won 64 of them. Faf will become the seventh player to lead the Bangalore outfit in IPL.
The 37-year-old said that he has a different style of leadership than what Kohli and Dhoni has and he won’t try to imitate anyone of them.
“What it taught me was that there were different styles, but it is important that you need to be (have) your own style. Because that’s the thing that always comes through when the pressure is on.
“So, I can’t try to be Virat Kohli because I’m not Virat Kohli. I can’t try to be MS Dhoni. But there are things I’ve learned that helped me grow my leadership style and mature. So, I’m grateful for that journey,” he said.
RCB will play its first IPL match against Punjab Kings on March 27 at Dr D.Y Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.
Also Read: IPL 2022: Sunil Gavaskar Says RCB Appointing Faf Du Plessis As Captain Is A Terrific Decision
