MS Dhoni was removed from Rising Pune Supergiants' captaincy in IPL 2017.
Ex-cricketer Rajat Bhatia has credited MS Dhoni for the success of Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) in IPL 2017. Bhatia said it was Dhoni who made it possible for them to reach the final and not captain Steve Smith.
Dhoni-led RPS had failed to make it to the playoffs in the IPL 2016 and the franchise sacked him from the role next season to appoint Smith as captain. But Bhatia doesn't rate Smith very highly as a captain and said he wouldn't feature him in the top 10 captains.
Speaking on SportsTiger’s interview series – Interact. Personal. Laugh & Life (IPLL) – Bhatia said, “You can never compare Dhoni with Steve Smith. Smith doesn’t even feature in the top 10 captains for me. Dhoni was the reason we reached the IPL 2017 final.”
ALSO READ: IPL 2021: ‘MS Dhoni helps players improve their game’, Moeen Ali excited to play under CSK skipper
Bhatia added that he was surprised when Rajasthan Royals gave him the captaincy as he found him running out of ideas in crucial situations during his stint with RPS.
The 41-year-old also commented on Gautam Gambhir's leadership and said he enjoyed playing under him. But Bhatia found him immature as a captain during his first season in the role.
“I really enjoyed playing under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. However, during his third year for Delhi Daredevils, there was a lack of maturity in his captaincy, maybe because it was his first-ever role as a captain in the IPL and there were also a lot of changes made,” Bhatia said.
“When we both moved to KKR and he became the captain, I had a doubt whether I’ll be able to enjoy under his captaincy or not… He used to prefer me in his playing 11 and always used to tell me that he believed in me and knew how to use me. That’s why I enjoyed playing under him,” he added.