MS Dhoni is a strong leader: Faf du Plessis

South African and Chennai Super Kings Cricketer Faf du Plessis was the latest to applaud the leadership skills of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, also saying that he felt the Chennai based franchise has developed an excellent think tank within the team by recruiting Cricketers who have had captaincy experience in the International circuit.

Speaking in the CSK website, the 35 year old former Proteas captain said, “A great thing that CSK has done over the years, and that’s credit to MS and (Stephen) Fleming the coach, is they have targeted captains – (Brendon) McCullum, myself, (Dwayne) Bravo, obviously MS, (Suresh) Raina’s captained a bit – because they want thinking cricketers.”

He continued, “So, there’s a lot of leaders within group, that experience of thinking cricketers is what they want and obviously it has proven to be very successful.”

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Du Plessis also acknowledged the fact that the presence of MS Dhoni in the yellow outfit makes a huge difference. He said, “Chennai Super Kings is a great franchise to be a part of. MS has got such strong leadership. He leaves a massive hole when he’s not on the field.”

Who can forget that amazing diving catch du Plessis took against KKR at the Eden Gardens last year? Talking to the website about his fielding, he said that loves fielding at areas of the field where the ball travels to more often. He also heaped praises on CSK teammate Ravindra Jadeja, arguably the best Indian fielder at the moment.

He said, “I love going to positions on the field where the ball goes all the time. We are lucky at CSK that we got a few very good fielders. Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) is incredible, he has got the strongest arm in world cricket. Jaddu wants them to try and run. He jogs to the ball because he knows if you run, you are out.”

Like most cricketers, du Plessis was looking forward to the IPL as well. Sadly, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of the tournament looks bleak.
He said, “The IPL, both for players and fans around the world, has become an integral part of the season. I was really looking forward to it this year,” he said.

Faf du Plessis has played 63 matches for CSK, scoring 1639 runs with a highest score of 96, which came last year.