Former India and current Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain, MS Dhoni, is known to be one of the coolest captains the game has ever seen. The charismatic captain’s ability to keep his mind cool in pressure situations makes him different from others, and it indeed plays a key role in his success as captain.
Well, there is no doubt that MSD is the smartest captain in the world, but his cool and composed aura attracts many, and now the latest one is South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius, who is currently playing under Dhoni for CSK in the ongoing IPL 2022.
Recently, Pretorius lauded Dhoni and said that his cool demeanour both on and off the field helps him take the pressure out of the equation. The fast-bowling all-rounder further said that Dhoni doesn’t take unnecessary pressure that helps him deliver the results.
Dwaine Pretorius wrote on his website Talent-Mastered.com: “One of the biggest reasons he (Dhoni) says he doesn’t mind losing is he doesn’t feel like it’s necessary to put any other external pressures on himself. So he takes away the pressure of winning or losing the match and he focuses on the process. The process is something that is super important and allows MS to deal with pressure.”
The Proteas star continued, “He controls his breathing, and he takes away the external pressure of having to win every match or having to win every moment that he’s involved in. Then he knows where his strengths are, and knows which balls he can smoke for a six or which balls he can’t.”
On learning about a bowler’s mindset from Dhoni in the death overs, Pretorius said: “Another big lesson I took from MS in terms of dealing with pressure at the back end when it comes to death batting is the fact that the bowler only needs to miss once and the pressure is all on him.”
He signed off by saying, “The bowler’s mindset is — I can’t afford to lose this game. So just this shift in mindset has really made MS one of the best finishers of all time, and I believe that is what makes him successful.”
(With IANS Inputs)
