Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis thinks Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s intelligent policy of roping in international captains was one of the biggest reasons behind Chennai Super Kings’s stupendous success in the Indian Premier League.
Chennai Super Kinds have been a part of 10 out of 12 seasons of the IPL and have never failed to reach semi-finals or play-offs.
“A great thing that CSK has done over the years, and that’s credit to MS and [Stephen] Fleming, is they have targeted captains – [Brendon] McCullum, myself, [Dwayne] Bravo, obviously MS, [Suresh] Raina’s captained a bit – because they want thinking cricketers,” Du Plessis told the CSK website.
“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,” he added.
“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.”
Du Plessis, who has been part of CSK for over a decade, reserved praise for Ravindra Jadeja, widely recognised as one of the best fielders in the world.
“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,” he added.
The 2020 IPL season, scheduled to begin on March 29, has been put off indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic. “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 signed off.