Former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has lashed out at the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise for sacking Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain of the team for the IPL.
BCCL
"The decision was disgraceful. Dhoni has won almost everything in the 8-9 years of his captaincy and even though the franchise can say they run the team with their own money, shouldn't they have seen Dhoni's stature and credibility before first stripping him of captaincy and then not even letting Dhoni the grace? " Azhar said.
PTI
Dhoni was replaced with Australian captain Steve Smith and the Pune franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka had said the team needed a young captain with vision and zest to lead them in the IPL this year.
Goenka also made it a point to emphasise and re-emphasise that "Dhoni himself had no say in the decision."I have also spoken with Mahi and he says that's absolutely fine," he added.
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BCCL
The change in captaincy appeared to have been prompted by Pune's ordinary outing last year when they finished seventh in the points table after winning just five of their 14 matches.
Asked to speak on Dhoni's removal from captaincy, new skipper Smith said there is no bad blood between him and Dhoni. "There are no issues between us. We have shared some messages, MS is very supportive and it doesn't change my professional relationship with him or anyone else," Smith said.