Dwaine Pretorius after some solid performances in the limited-over cricket for his national team was got the chance to play IPL when Chennai Super Kings bought him at the mega auction ahead of IPL 2022.
The all-rounder Pretorius did everything right in his first outing in IPL, as a result Dhoni trusted him and allowed him to bowl the tough overs in the cash-rich league. During his journey with CSK Pretorius was highly impressed with Dhoni’ calmness and self-belief and wants to imbibe in his career now.
The 33-year-old, who will next seen in the upcoming India versus South Africa series expressed his views on what he learnt from the legendary Ms Dhoni.
While speaking at the press conference ahead of the series, Pretorius said, “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.
“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.
“I am going to try and bring that into my game: the calmness but also that self-belief that from any position, any game can be won,” Pretorius added.
However, the Randfontein-born was not the part of CSK in all games, but the role he played in with the bat and has bowled tough overs during death, provided the struggling CSK a little balance. Chennai Super Kings ended their campaign at 9th position in IPL 2022 with only 4 wins.
