Dhoni an impressive captain and one of the best strategists: Faf Duplesey

Former South African captain Faf Duplesey believes Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the people who helped him mature as a leader. He also termed the former Indian captain as one of the best strategists. Du Plessis was part of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings twice, from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2018 to 2021. He joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last season as captain. Du Plessis said that when he realized that he could not become a captain like former South African captain Graeme Smith or Dhoni, he decided to be like himself.

Du Plessis said in the RCB podcast, “I think what was really good for me (during his career) was to find out that I am not going to be Graeme Smith as a captain, I am going to be a captain. I’m not going to be Stephen Fleming as a captain, I’m not going to be Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a captain. need to be. Because if you are not yourself, people will pick up on it, maybe not when you are doing well but definitely when you are under pressure or not performing as expected.

Du Plessis said that during his debut season with CSK, he used to spend a lot of time with former New Zealand captain and Chennai team head coach Stephen Fleming and just try to read his mind about captaincy and imbibe the nuances of leadership. He said, “I always had this vision of learning from legendary leaders, it (leadership) was always something that I was excited about. When I initially came into the South African team, Graeme Smith was the captain. I was like, wow, this guy has an amazing presence when he speaks, and he dominates the room when he speaks.”

Duplessi said, “Early in my career, I got an opportunity to go to Chennai (CSK). Stephen Fleming is one of the great leaders of the game, obviously for New Zealand cricket as well. The different aspect was that he was a human manager, a person who worked on relationships. I ask questions, just to learn as much as you can. And then on top of that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, you know how well he reads the game strategically. And you say he is an impressive captain.

The South African legend says being ‘unfairly’ criticized for shining the ball in the second Test against Australia in Hobart during the 2016 series has made him more determined to give the home team an answer . South Africa won the second Test by an innings and 80 runs. Du Plessis, who was captaining the team, allegedly salivated on the ball with a toffee in his mouth. He was fined 100 per cent of his match fee but was cleared to play the next Test in Adelaide.