The captaincy baton of Rising Pune Supergiants, one of the two Indian Premier League newbies, has been passed on from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the most successful India captain across formats, to Steven Smith, Australia’s Test skipper.
While making the announcement official, team owner Sanjiv Goenka did not elaborate on the reasons behind the change in the leadership. “I have the highest regard for MS Dhoni as a leader and a person. Dhoni will continue to be an important part of our team. He is supportive of the decision keeping the franchisee’s best interests in mind,” Goenka said in a statement.
The Hindu understands that the decision of the RPS management was on the basis of a review of the 2016 edition of the IPL. RPS’s debut season turned out to be a forgettable outing for the team as it finished seventh among eight teams in the league stage. It was the first time Dhoni was featuring in the IPL for a team other than Chennai Super Kings, and it turned out to be the first time a team led by Dhoni failed to make the cut for the last-four stage.
The top management of RPS is understood to have been convinced that the onus lay with Dhoni for the team’s inability to rise to the challenge. As a result, for the last couple of months, the cricket fraternity was abuzz with Dhoni’s removal from the captain’s post being a matter of time.
The choice for leading the team, Smith, however came as a surprise to many. Smith, who will return as the Pune franchise skipper after donning the captain’s hat for the now-defunct Pune Warriors India, is a proven performer. However, despite two of India’s Test vice-captains — R. Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane — being a part of the squad along with South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, the ownership eventually decided on Smith.
It is understood that head coach Stephen Fleming informed the Australia Test captain during a meeting at the Australia team hotel in Mumbai over the last two days. The two are also understood to have discussed RPS’s auction strategy.