MS Dhoni and Graeme Smith are my favourite captains: Japan’s Kendel Fleming [Exclusive]

MS Dhoni. (Source -IPL/BCCI)

Japan cricket team’s skipper Kendel Fleming has named his favourite captains and revealed how he feared MS Dhoni’s batting prowess when he used to support Australia in his younger days.

World cricket is expanding by the day as the International Cricket Council (ICC) is looking to globalise the sport. in the same line, the 2024 T20 World Cup will feature as many as 20 teams for the first time. Meanwhile, cricket will be returning to the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 after a 128-year hiatus. These are significant stepping stones in the path to making cricket a global sport.

Japan is one of the many nations looking to make a mark in the cricketing circuit. They recently defeated Mongolia at home by a comfortable 6-0 margin in a seven-match T20I series. Skipper Fleming, who is an influencial figure in the Japan cricket set-up, picked Graeme Smith and MS Dhoni as his favourite captains.

“As a fan, a couple of names come to my mind, and the first one is Graeme Smith. He was a courageous captain, and he got into that position young and embraced it. The second one has to be MS Dhoni. Despite the pressure of a billion Indian supporters, he always seemed calm and took games to the last over. As an Australian supporter when I was younger, I was always worried when Dhoni was batting because I knew that he would never be phased out, and the chances were he would take it to the last over and then hit a couple of sixes, and it would be game over. So, he’s someone whose demeanor I love to channel,” Fleming said in an exclusive interview with CricTracker.

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I would love to be in Chennai, watching Dhoni walk out to bat or hit a six: Kendel Fleming

The opening batter was asked which stadium he would love to play at when he comes to India. Fleming said that he has never been to India but would love to visit the country and watch matches at different venues to feel the noise from the cricket-crazy spectators. He also said that he would love to watch Dhoni come out to bat or hit a six at Chepauk.

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“I’ve never been to India. I would love to go, but just the sheer noise at every venue I would love to experience. The first one that comes to mind is in Chennai, especially when Dhoni walks out to bat. I watched Dhoni bat at the MCG and Gabba. Even at those venues, you can, you know, it’s just almost manic atmosphere. It’s probably the same with [Virat] Kohli and also [Sachin] Tendulkar going back a little bit. At the IPL level, I would love to be in Chennai watching Dhoni walk out to bat or hit a six, you know, late to seal the game,” Fleming stated.