IPL 2023: 'The way MS Dhoni helped me, guided me was incredible, he's terrific,' says Steve Smith

Former Australia captain Steve Smith is in awe of MS Dhoni. Having led perhaps one of the greatest captains ever at the Rising Pune Super Giants (RPSG) in IPL 2017, Smith revealed how MS inspired him from behind the wickets and how his inputs helped Smith guide his team to the final.

Smith, who will be joining the commentary team for the upcoming IPL 2023, heaped praises on MS and even admitted he got shocked when RPSG management asked him to captain the franchise instead of Dhoni, saying he didn’t have answers to that. Revealing what it was like leading MS Dhoni, Smith said he enjoyed doing that, but it was daunting at the same time.

"It was a great experience being able to captain him, but also very daunting as well," Smith told Star Sports. "When I got the call to say that they wanted me to captain, it was a little bit daunting. But that season, MSD was just wonderful. You know, he helped in any way that he could and he's a terrific guy," Smith added.

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Elaborating further on his first thoughts after getting approached for the leadership role, Smith said he didn’t believe in the first place and instead asked them if they had spoken with MS Dhoni about the same.

However, upon accepting the role and having succeeded in leading his team to the finals, which they lost against Mumbai Indians, Smith said he had Dhoni's back and that the former India captain was wonderful throughout - – something he cannot thank him enough for.

"Yeah, I didn't really know what to expect initially, you know, MS had captained every team he played for, obviously throughout the IPL with Chennai, every season should I say. "But yeah, when they came and asked me, I was a little bit shocked at first, and then I didn't really know what to say. It was like, have you spoken to MS about this? This is a little bit strange from my side, but after we sorted everything out, MS was just wonderful,” he said.

"And the way he helped me and helped guide that team that year was incredible. And yeah, I couldn't thank him enough," Steve Smith added.

Smith, who recently led Australia to the ODI series win over India, also said MS Dhoni’s nature of remaining cool and calm in almost situation inspired him to such an extent that Smith acquired that trait, not only for that season but for the future as well.

"I think just the calmness that MS shows; we saw it throughout his career, just how calm he was. It didn't look like he was flustered by any emotions or anything like that. "And that's certainly something that I've taken in not just in that season, but just watching him go about his business in the prior years, just how calm and relaxed he was,” Smith said.

“And you know, at times I can get quite agitated and things like that. So you know, I have to try and keep myself as calm and as sort of level-headed as I can. And yeah, that's certainly something that I learned off of MS," Smith concluded.

Meanwhile, back to captaining Chennai Super Kings the following year, MS Dhoni guided his team to the third IPL title, beating SunRisers Hyderabad in the finals. Now Dhoni will lead his CSK franchise in IPL 2023 as they start their campaign against defending champions Gujarat Titans on March 31st.