Split captaincy working fine: Behardien

 Farhaan Behardien, who played a fine supporting role to J P Duminy during South Africa’s victory in the first T20 International, felt having different captains for the three formats of the game is actually helpful for the team.

“I think we all grow into particular kind of roles. AB (de Villiers), Faf (du Plessis) and Hash (Hashim Amla) command different kind of respect. It’s nice to have new and fresh ideas in all three formats,” Behardien said on the eve of the second T20 game here.

“All three lead by example. AB’s on-field performance, Faf speaks with a good command and Hash is calm and cool. He has a certain presence about himself,”  he said.
Behardien said the split captaincy also helped on long tours.

“I think with different guys coming into different teams, it’s quite fresh to have that captain’s perspective for that particular series, especially in a long tour like this to India. For one guy to captain in all three formats becomes a bit tough. To go from press conferences, to team selections and worry about your own performances. So it (split captaincy) takes away the pressure. They are massive players for us in all formats, and this keeps them fresh and all the team-mates enjoy this fresh perspective.”

Behardien, who scored a 23-ball 32 and forged a 105-run association with Duminy in the first game, said batting with Duminy made things easy for him.

“Batting with JP is always a bit of blessing. He has been here so many times, he is the captain of Delhi (Daredevils) in the IPL.

“I have learnt a lot from David Miller and AB de Villiers as well. Before coming to India, I personally did a lot of work my coach Rob Walter (at Titans). I played a lot of spin.

“We looked how to work runs in the middle overs of the T20 as India generally bowls a lot of spin in that particular period. It was nice to stay calm, and JP had a calming influence on me.”