Learnt many things from MS Dhoni: Dwayne Smith

Jason Holder and Dwayne Smith of the West Indies during the 2015 World Cup

West Indies’ aggressive batsman Dwayne Smith credited MS Dhoni for his leadership and thanked him for giving enough opportunity to teammates to show their talent.

He said, "Chennai Super Kings is the best cricket team that I have ever been a part of. You feel very relaxed in the CSK dressing room. The set-up is such and everything is taken care of. You have a coach like Stephen Fleming and a friend like Suresh Raina. But above all there is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. When I came into the CSK set-up, they make you feel at home and comfortable."

CSK stint made me better cricketer: Smith

Dwayne Smith played 16 T20s for Chennai Super Kings last season and made 399 runs with an average of 24.93. Talking about Dhoni’s ability to spot the good in even adverse situations, he added, "With MS, you can never complain that you did not get your share of chances. He gives you ample opportunities to succeed and then it's up to you take those chances. He is an honest cricketer, one of the best in the world and has a thinking brain. He would always tell you to not get worried about everything and play freely.”

"Over the past couple of seasons, I have tried to closely watch Dhoni and imbibe a lot of things from his captaincy and tried to imbibe that in my game. Certainly, the stint at CSK and interactions with Dhoni has made me a better cricketer,” he highlighted the best aspect of Dhoni’s leadership.

Commenting on his own mixed performance in the last IPL season, he added, "I didn't have a good season but I am not thinking about it too much. I was positive but I don't think there is any point in looking back at the season. It was a simple thing. I was out of form and now I have to practise hard to get back into form."

The limited overs specialist all-rounder Smith is the part of Barbados Tridents in the CPL and he will play under the captaincy of Kieron Pollard. The third edition of the CPL will be played from June 20 to July 26.