Faf du Plessis, who was appointed as Royal Challengers Bangalore’s skipper for IPL 2022, said that he can’t be a captain like Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni. The South African, who captained the national team before 2020, further added that he understands the importance of having one’s own style of leadership. 

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Du Plessis, in his Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants days, played under MS Dhoni. Recalling his time as CSK, the Protea said that the former India skipper’s style of leadership was different than what he was used to. The 37-year-old joined the five-time champions in 2011. He was a key part of their 2018 and 2020 title-winning campaigns. 

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“The crazy thing is, when I started over in Chennai, I had this idea of what captaincy looks like. And MS was the complete opposite of what I thought it would have looked like! Because my culture was South African, right? So I came to this environment and I was like, ‘this guy was completely different than I thought what it should be!’” Faf du Plessis said in an interview with RCB. 

He further added that playing under Dhoni taught him that every leader should have his style of captaincy. 

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“What it taught me was that there were different styles, but it is important that you need to be (have) your own style. Because that’s the thing that always comes through when the pressure is on. So, I can’t try to be Virat Kohli because I’m not Virat Kohli. I can’t try to be MS Dhoni. But there are things I’ve learned that helped me grow my leadership style and mature. So, I’m grateful for that journey,” said the new RCB skipper.

Du Plessis will captain an IPL team for the first time when RCB begin their 2022 campaign on March 27 against Punjab Kings.