During the interaction, the first question to Scott was on leadership. Styris, who is in Tamil Nadu as a commentator for the Tamil Nadu Premiere League, recalled his stint as a player for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and playing under Stephen Fleming.
He said, “MSD leads by example. He treats every player equally – be it the senior players or the junior most. On the other hand, Stephen Fleming was the captain who would guide you with the right amount of words at the right time. He was never authoritative.”
Styris recalled his one-day international debut against India that he had played in Rajkot. “It was a delight to have taken the wicket of probably the world’s best batsman – Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian batting line up in those days was great. Besides Sachin, Rahul Dravid was mentally unbreakable, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Saurav Ganguly,” said Styris.
The 42-year-old former New Zealand player expressed his happiness on CSK returning to the IPL. “It (CSK) is the best team in the IPL. It is like a family. All players come together when the team needs it,” he said.
Speaking about TNPL, Styris said he was looking at the improvement among players from the previous season. “TNPL is the biggest platform at its level that helps youngsters to find a place in the Indian Premiere League (IPL). I have been looking at 10-12 players who are emerging as the best talent. Besides, I have seen great improvement among few players from the previous season,” said Styris.
Asked about balancing personal and professional life, Styris said, “When I started playing, players were not allowed to bring their family on tours. Once we had to go to South Africa for four and a half months, and I was away from my family for that long. Today, things have changed,” he said.