Preparing for the upcoming T20I series against India, South African all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius acknowledged that he would like to have calmness and self-belief like MS Dhoni. The South African made his IPL debut for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 15th edition after joining the franchise for a base price of INR50 lakh. The limited opportunities notwithstanding, Pretorius said playing alongside Dhoni has been his biggest gain.
As per the quotes in NDTV, Dwaine Pretorius said, “Playing my first IPL was a great experience. It was one of my bucket list items and that too to get the opportunity to play for CSK, one of the most successful franchises. You get a lot of responsibility as a player. I really enjoyed playing under Dhoni as well and batting with him, seeing the brand value he has in India just shows how big he is and what he has done for the sport in this country.”
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He further added, “The biggest thing that I have learned from him is how calm he is at the crease, the way he takes the pressure off himself and tries to put it on to the bowler. He made me realize that at the death it’s actually the bowlers who are under pressure. It was a fresh mindset and also he doesn’t get too excited and is always optimistic. He believes he can do anything and I am going to try to bring his calmness and self-belief into my game.”
Asked about the series against India, Dwaine Pretorius said it is a great opportunity for some of the players from the Proteas squad to cement their places in the national team ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia. It would also be great to know (the strengths and weakness) of the Indian team going into the World Cup.
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Dwaine Pretorius is targeting the series to establish himself as one of the best all-rounders in world cricket. He said, “You test yourself as a player against some of the best T20 players of the world. Personally, I want to push myself and make a good impact for the team. From a personal note, I want to win the series going into the World Cup. I want to establish myself as a leading T20 all-rounder in this series going into the T20 World Cup.”
The ICC T20 World Cup will be hosted by Australia from October 16 to November 13. The five-match T20 series between India and South Africa starts here on Thursday, followed by matches in Cuttack (June 12), Visakhapatnam (June 14), Rajkot (June 17) and Bengaluru (June 19).
