Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius was impressive in the limited opportunities he received during the Indian Premier League 2022. The Protea all-rounder was particularly bowled over by MS Dhoni’s approach to the game.
The South African all-rounder revealed his biggest takeaway from the experience of playing alongside India legend MS Dhoni. Speaking in a press conference on Monday in Delhi, Pretorius said the thing he learnt from his Premier League stint is that “anything is always possible.”
Pretorius played his maiden IPL season in 2022, where he enjoyed success in the six matches. He played under Dhoni’s leadership and batted with him. The South African was part of a match-winning partnership with the India legend in one of the matches against Mumbai Indians, where they scored 33 off 21 for seventh wicket.
“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. Anything is always possible. He believes he can do anything.
I’m going to try and bring that into my game – the calmness but also the self-belief that, from any position, any game can be won,”
the 31-year-old said.
The Super Kings didn’t have a great season this year as they finished at the second last position on the table with only four victories out of 14 games. Pretorius added that CSK is an experienced set-up and understands that the results don’t always go your way.
Talking about what he would like international cricket to adopt from the IPL, he said he likes the dynamic that strategic timeouts bring into the game.
“I enjoy the strategic timeout. It makes the game a bit longer, but it splits the match into three parts. It gives each team a moment to assess their strategy and what’s the best way to go forward.”
The IPL often gets criticised for many things and hardly gets credit for the development of the foreign players. Pretorius was grateful that he got the opportunity to play in the league.
Pretorius has picked 23 wickets in T20Is at an economy of 7.76 and has scored 170 runs at an average of 24.28 while striking at 161.50.
