South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorious had the experience of playing under MS Dhoni in the recently concluded Tata Indian Premier League 2022 for Chennai Super Kings. Pretorius was impressed with the way MS Dhoni once again led despite this not being the best of seasons for the franchise.
The all-rounder said the biggest thing he learned from MS Dhoni was how calm he was at the crease and how easily he was able to put the pressure back on the opposition. Dhoni told Pretorious that the pressure is always on the bowlers in the death overs rather than the batters.
Pretorious took six wickets in six matches of IPL 2022 and conceded his runs at an economy rate of 10. In fact, Pretorious played a fine cameo of 14-ball 22 in the 33rd match of the season against five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
Dhoni then was able to finish the innings as he smashed Jaydev Unadkat for 16 runs off the last four balls. Dhoni once again added the finishing touches with a quickfire knock of 28 runs off just 13 balls.
“As a bowler, you can still lose the match if you have to defend 18 off the last three balls and as a batter you can win it. It was a fresh mindset. He doesn’t get too excited. He doesn’t get too down on himself. Anything is always possible and I love that about him. He is very optimistic. He believes he can do anything.” Pretorius told ESPNCricinfo.
“The biggest thing I learnt from him is how calm he is at the crease and how much he tries to take pressure off himself and put it onto the bowler. He made me realise that at the death, the batter isn’t under more pressure, it’s actually the bowler that is under more pressure,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dwaine Pretorius is part of South Africa’s T20 squad for the five-match series against India. The first T20I will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on 9th June.
On the other hand, it was a disappointing season for Chennai Super Kings as they could only manage four wins in their 14 matches and finished in the ninth place in the league stage.
