'MS Dhoni's captaincy was complete opposite to what I thought' - Faf du Plessis recalls initial days with CSK

The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will mark the start of a new era for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as Faf du Plessis has been named the captain of the franchise. Having led the side since the 2013 season, Virat Kohli stepped down from the role following the conclusion of the last season. The baton has now been passed to Du Plessis and expectations are high from the Proteas star.

After all, he enjoyed a gala time as South Africa’s captain across formats and is well versed with the drill of IPL. Notably, the 37-year-old is coming off a long stint with Chennai Super Kings. Making his IPL debut in 2012, the right-handed batter served CSK in nine seasons and piled up a plethora of runs. As Du Plessis is now the captain of RCB, he’ll marshal the troop against him former team.

Will not try to be MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli: Faf du Plessis

Meanwhile, Du Plessis played under Dhoni during his stint with CSK and the duo are known to share a great bond. In an interaction with RCB, Du Plessis recalled his early days at CSK and revealed how Dhoni’s leadership style took him by surprise.

“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 noted.

Meanwhile, the star batter further asserted that he’ll bring his style of leadership out instead of trying to be MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli. “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,” said the new RCB skipper.

“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 further added.