Dhoni's gut feeling on game his biggest strength: du Plessis

Seasoned South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis, who plays alongside MS Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, believes the latter is a very instinctive captain and his gut feeling on the game is his biggest strength.

du Plessis was retained by CSK for the 2020 Indian Premier League season which had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was amazing for me to see how different MS was as a captain. I used to think a captain must speak all the time in team meetings etc but MS was completely different. He doesn't believe a lot in team meetings. He's a very instinctive captain he's got such a good cricket brain that he relies on it to make the right decisions on the field," Du Plessis said during a Facebook chat with Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal.

"He reads the other players really well and he uses that to make instinctive decisions on the field. He's got an incredible gut feeling on the game and I think that's his biggest strength," said du Plessis who recently stepped down as Proteas captain.

"He's (Dhoni) extremely calm. I haven't played with someone who is a better finisher than him. It's just remarkable to watch him from the side of the field," Du Plessis continued.

"If someone else tries to do it like him they won't be able to. He's just so unique like he times the ball so late he's got an incredible calmness. He knows his game and he picks a bowler and goes for it."

The 35-year-old added that he has learnt a lot from Dhoni's leadership and also from CSK coach and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

"I'm lucky to have started my journey there at CSK because I have really learned a lot from a leadership point of view. I tried to learn as much as possible from Dhoni and Stephen Fleming because both are great captains," he added.