Inside story: Why Dhoni was sacked for the first time in his career

For the first time in his illustrious career, 35-year-old MS Dhoni has been sacked as a captain after he was replaced by Steve Smith by Rising Pune Supergiants. Here's more details on the story

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Pune: Franchise cricket can be cruel at times. Mahendra Singh Dhoni learnt it the harder way yesterday, after being officially replaced by Australian Steven Smith as the Rising Pune Supergiants' (RPS) skipper for the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

For a man who led India to many memorable victories including two World Cup titles, it is the first time Dhoni has been sacked as a skipper in his illustrious career. The 35-year-old has an impeccable record in the IPL as Chennai Super Kings made the play-offs in each of the eight seasons under him, including two titles and four runners-up finishes.

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Australia's captain Steve Smith, who was yesterday named skipper of Rising Pune Supergiants, takes a breather during Day One of the warm-up tie vs India 'A' at the CCI on Friday. Pic/AFP

Nearly sacked as India skipper in 2012
He came close to being sacked as Test skipper after the team lost seven Tests away from home (in 2011-12), before the then BCCI president N Srinivasan allegedly over-turned the selection panel's decision to sack him. "Dhoni has not stepped down. We have appointed Steve Smith as the skipper for the upcoming season. Frankly speaking, we did not have a good last season and we wanted someone young to lead the side and revamp it ahead of the upcoming Season 10," RPS owner Sanjiv Goenka told PTI.

Also Read: When IPL 9 was not fine for MS Dhoni's Rising Pune Supergiants

Dhoni stepped down from the India Test captaincy during the tour of Australia in 2014-15 and resigned as the shorter format skipper ahead of the recently concluded series against England.

However, ahead of India 'A' team's warm-up ODI against England in January, where he was leading the hosts, Dhoni had said that he will continue to be a captain in the IPL.

However, little did he know, perhaps, Goenka had other ideas. "He was disappointed with the way last season went for the team," a source close to Mr Goenka said. "He felt we could have done much better (than finishing seventh with just five wins from 14 games.) He was thinking about this (removing Dhoni as a skipper) since the end of the last season," the source added.

Ashwin was captaincy option for owners
It is learnt that the franchise was seriously thinking about R Ashwin replacing Dhoni at the helm, but eventually decided to go for Smith, who was also their best batsman last season. The Rising Pune Supergiants' debut IPL season went from bad to worse, as they failed to build on a winning start.

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