File photo of MS Dhoni with Faf du Plessis. , Photo credit: The Hindu
Former South African captain Faf du Plessis believes Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped him mature as a leader, saying the former India skipper is one of the best in the business.
Du Plessis had two long stints with IPL team Chennai Super Kings – 2011-2015 and 2018-2021 – before he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore as captain last season.
Du Plessis said that when he realized that he was not going to become a captain like former South African captain Graeme Smith or Dhoni, he decided to become one.
“I think what really stood me in good stead (throughout his career) was the conviction that I’m not going to be Graeme Smith as a captain, I’m not going to be Stephen Fleming as a captain. Well, I’m not.” MS Dhoni is going to be the captain.
“To be true to who I am as a person, I need to be me. Because if you’re not you, people will see through it, maybe not when you’re doing well but definitely When you are under pressure, or under-performing, the real you will reveal itself,” du Plessis said in the RCB podcast.
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, just putting his mind on captaincy and trying to imbibe the nuances of leadership. Used to do
“I’ve always had this attitude of learning from great leaders, it (leadership) was always something I was thrilled 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—like this big, blinding roar at you, and he dominates the room when he speaks. So I was like, he’s a leader, right?”
“I got a chance to go to Chennai (CSK) as a young-ish stage in my career. 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 person Manager, a guy who just works on relationships.
“And I go, wow, that’s impressive. During my first season at CSK, I sat next to him (Fleming) and just asked him questions about captaincy and leadership, just to learn as much as I could. And then you have MS (Dhoni) on top of that, and you go, wow, this guy (Dhoni) is tactically weird to read the game like that.
The South African great said being “unfairly” criticized for shining the ball in the second Test against Australia in Hobart during the 2016 series made him more determined to give back to the home team . South Africa won the second Test by an innings and 80 runs.
Du Plessis, who was leading the team, reportedly salivated on the ball with a lolli in his mouth. Although he was fined 100% of his match fee, he was cleared to play the next Test in Adelaide.
“I was very unfairly criticized for shining that ball and I was thoroughly ripped off by the media; they branded me a cheater and attacked my character… Before the third test every newspaper published ‘Faf du Plessis (a ) is) was like.
“It was very bad and I turned out to bat in Adelaide (for the first pink ball third Test) and there were 50,000 boos… as loud as can be.”
Du Plessis said that the episode brought out the fighter in him and he scored a century in the first innings. South Africa, however, lost the match by seven wickets despite their 118.
“I was like I was born (to fight). It’s the fighter in me and then you get 100 in a Test match. Even when I was 50, everyone booed me. Even when I went to 100, du Plessis said, half the stadium claps, while the other half still hoots (me). It lit a flame in me, ‘Whatever there Because of that, you cannot take me out today.’