Mumbai, March 25: Newly appointed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis of South Africa described ex-skipper of the IPL team Virat Kohli’s experience “second to none” and said he felt “lucky” to have played under MS Dhoni for “extremely long time”. RCB bought du Plessis for Rs 7 crore in a mega auction, beating his former franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a long bidding battle.
Talking about Kohli’s leadership skills in a video posted by Indian Premier League (IPL) on their website on Friday, du Plessis said: “Virat has captained his country for an extremely long time. “He has been a very good leader for Indian cricket and RCB. His experience, the wisdom, and knowledge that comes through that is second to none.” He also talked about playing under Dhoni for 10 years. The Proteas player has played for CSK from 2011 to 2021 under Dhoni’s leadership — except 2016 and 2017 when the team was banned. “There’s always an expectation that you wanna try and perform as best as you can. So that comes with a little bit of added responsibility.
“Some people might say it’s a little bit of extra pressure but lucky for me I have been around for a long time in international cricket and also in IPL. So I have that experience that comes with it,” said the RCB skipper on his new role. “I was lucky enough to play under MS Dhoni for an extremely long time. So got to see very closely how his brain works. How things operate under him, which was very fortunate for me,” he said. “Also Stephen Fleming, who has been a really good leader in the international cricket and is also a well-established coach now. I played under AB de Villiers, who was captain of South Africa for a while. Every captain has their own strengths, and the icing was for me to look at these leaders and see their strengths and also find my own ways to be different,” he added. RCB will begin their IPL campaign on Sunday against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
UNI
