IPL 2017: Virender Sehwag is "happy" that M.S. Dhoni will not lead the Rising Pune Supergiants

What’s the story?

Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag jokingly expressed he was quite “happy” that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not going to lead the Rising Pune Supergiants in the upcoming Indian Premier League. As per the reports of Zee News, Sehwag was quoted as saying, “I am happy that he isn’t captain because maybe now my team, Kings XI Punjab, can beat this Pune team.”

The ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ also quoted that opting for a new skipper is the franchises’ internal decision, but the Jharkhand-based player is one of the best captains the country has ever seen. On a serious note, I believe that this is an internal decision of the franchise but he is one of the best ever captains India has ever had,” said the former International.

In case you didn’t know...

Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujrat Lions made their debut in the Indian Premier League last year after Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were scrapped from the cricketing extravaganza due to various off-field reasons.

And whilst Gujarat made the playoffs in their debut season, Pune’s fortunes were dim. It was by far Dhoni’s most unsuccessful IPL season, as Pune finished 7^th on the points table with just five wins from 14 matches.

The heart of the matter

Rising Pune Supergiants owner Sanjiv Goenka made an explosive decision a few days back, removing World Cup winning captain MS Dhoni as the captain of the IPL franchise.

The management felt that the team needed a young captain in the upcoming season, and re-shape the playing XI, especially after the poor performance last season. Australian captain Steven Smith was declared as the new skipper for the Pune-based IPL outfit.

What’s next?

The IPL is scheduled to start in April, and build up to it has already started by virtue of the auction which took place last week. Big purchases like Ben Stokes, who was sold to the Pune franchise for a whopping Rs. 14.50 crores and Tymal Mills to the Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 12 crores will make this year’s IPL an exciting one.

Sportskeedas take

Though it may seem an unnecessary move to drop MS Dhoni as the skipper, but nonetheless, Steve Smith is a very able leader and has proved his capabilities in the past. Hopefully, he lives up to his reputation and justifies that the swap was indeed necessary for the benefit of the team. Pune’s opening fixture is against Mumbai Indians on April 6.