'I'm not going to be MS Dhoni' - Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis ahead of ITL 2023

Faf du Plessis (Image credit: Twitter)

Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis took over the captaincy of the Bangalore franchise ahead of the Indian T20 League 2022 and he displayed exceptional leadership qualities while leading the team to the ITL playoffs in his first season. Before coming to Bangalore, Faf was playing for the Chennai franchise under the leadership of MS Dhoni and he described himself as lucky to have learned about leadership from masterminds like the former India captain.

Speaking on Bangalore Podcast Season 2, Faf revealed his idea of ​​captaining his Indian T20 League franchise and said he never wanted to emulate other captains even though it helped him develop his captaincy skills.

“I think what was really good for me to go through was, even with all of that, the conviction that I am not going to be Graeme Smith as a captain, I’m not going to be Stephen Fleming as a captain, I’m not going to be MS Dhoni as a captain. In order for me to be true to who I am as a person, I need to be me. Because if you’re not being you, then people will see through it, maybe not when you’re doing well but definitely when you are under pressure, or underperforming, the real you will reveal itself,” Faf said.

He further said that, “I got an opportunity to go to Chennai as a young-ish phase in my career. Stephen Fleming is one of the great leaders within the game, obviously, for New Zealand cricket also. The different aspect was him being a man manager, a guy who just works on relationships. And I go, Wow, that’s impressive. During my first season at CSK, I was sitting next to him (Fleming) and just asked him questions about captaincy and leadership, just to learn as much as I can. And then you put MS on top of that, and you go, Wow, this guy’s tactically odd to read the game like this. And you go, Okay, he is impressive as a captain."

"I lived and breathed everything about Cricket South Africa"

Talking about what motivated him to lead the team with a sense of purpose, the South African ace batter said that he always wanted to do something special and did not want to play just for the sake of playing.

“I think as a cricketer, the moment that reaffirmed to me and told me that I belong at this level and I want to be at this level… was (the moment) like, you belong here. So that moment was from where, I was just like, this is what I want to do. Yeah, I became super purpose driven. After that, I became the Proteas, the Heartbeat if I could say that. I lived and breathed everything about Cricket South Africa.

“Then now at this next chapter in my life, I found this new purpose and especially now with Bangalore, as I said you’ve got something that really lights your desire inside you. Yeah, I want to do something special and then that gives you a new sense of purpose because I don’t want to play just for the sake of playing. There’s always something that drives me more than just the Rands or whatever,” Faf added.

Regarded as one of the best all-format batters, Faf had a stunning run with the bat for his franchise last year, scoring 468 runs in 16 matches with 3 half-centuries and ranked seventh among the leading run scorers in ITL 2022. He is also one of the greatest fielders of all time. With ex-captain Virat Kohli also returning to form in the shortest format of the game, Bangalore are looking to lift their maiden T20 league title this time.