When former captain of Rising Pune Supergiant Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped aside as captain and the captaincy went to Steven Smith. Most of us were surprised then we believed that this is MSD’s style. Well, now we realise and learn it was not the case. This year RPS started off in a jittery manner but have reinvented their game to finish second in the points table, just behind table-toppers Mumbai Indians. In a recent interview RPS head coach Stephen Fleming revealed the real reason behind all that hush-hush.
Fleming to an interview in a magazine said, “We lost 7 games by close margin under MS Dhoni’s captaincy in IPL 2016. Dhoni was not able to focus on finishing the games for the side. This is why the decision to remove him as captain was taken.”
He also spoke on the rise this season and said, “This year we have a good mix of young and experienced players in the squad. On one hand, we have experienced players like MS Dhoni and Steve Smith in the side and on the other hand, we have players like Rahul Tripathi and Washington Sundar. I hope the winning momentum will be carried forward to the playoff stages as well and will help us get the IPL trophy.”
“We won 5 close games this season which shows that we played well under pressure and I see that as a big reason why we finished at the second spot in the points table,” the former New Zealand skipper said.
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