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Royal Challengers Bangalore appointed Faf Du Plessis as the skipper of the franchise for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday. Post the RCB Unbox event, which was organized by the Bangalore franchise to reveal the skipper's name and unveil the new jersey, Du Plessis said that he had a different impression of leading the side, but when he played under Dhoni, he discovered a completely different style of leading the pack.
Quoted by the RCB website, Du Plessis said, "When I started my journey with Chennai Super Kings, I had a different impression of captaincy. But, when I closely observed Dhoni, I realized it was opposite to my culture in South Africa."
Adding further, he informed that MS had a completely different style, "Dhoni used to be calm and composed even during tough situations while leading CSK," he added. Faf also emphasized that he learnt a lot from Dhoni and Stephen Fleming by rating both as "two fantastic leaders." He also recalled his early days with Graeme Smith by claiming that those were the best days as he got a chance to learn from South Africa's best leader ever.
However, RCB's newly appointed leader claimed that now his captaincy style resembles Dhoni's style of leading the side.
"We both prefer to stay relaxed,'' Du Plessis said. Faf emphasized Dhoni's influence on him by saying informing taught him to be natural and stick to his style. Faf also confessed that Dhoni is one of the most outstanding leaders of all time, and it reflects in his success as well.
"The kind of games he won for his side and prestigious trophies he has collected across the globe speaks volumes of his leadership skills," said Faf. The 37-year-old has been an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings side under Dhoni since 2012. He even played under MSD for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants. Faf, who Chennai Super Kings released, caused a massive bidding war between his former franchise CSK, Delhi Capitals and RCB. Eventually, RCB secured the services of Faf for a whopping Rs 7 crores in the two-day mega IPL auctions in February.