‘I’m not going to be MS Dhoni’ – Faf du Plessis reveals who he wants to be as a leader in Indian T20 League

Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis displayed exceptional leadership qualities and led Bangalore to the Indian T20 League playoffs in his first season as the captain in 2022. Speaking on the second Bangalore podcast Season 2, he also revealed how he chose to be himself and not copy others’ styles and strategies.

He credited the days he spent watching former South African skipper Graeme Smith, MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming during his stint with Chennai. He said that when he got the captaincy, he told himself that he belonged here.

“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,” said Faf du Plessis.

Speaking about what drove him to lead the team with a sense of purpose, he said,

“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.”

‘I want to do something special’: Faf du Plessis

The right-hander was not only great as a captain, but he also led the team batting from the front. He scored 468 runs in 16 matches with 3 half-centuries, including the high score of 96 runs. In fact, Faf du Plessis was ranked seventh among the leading run-scorers of the 15^th edition of the Indian T20 League. He also revealed what motivated him to lead the team with a sense of purpose.

“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,” said Faf.