Lucknow Super Giants owner Sanjiv Goenka namedropped MS Dhoni and Steve Smith while recalling his time with the Rising Pune Supergiant. Before owning the LSG franchise, Goenka owned the RPS team for two IPL seasons in 2016 and 2017 when CSK and RR were banned.
RPS was captained by MS Dhoni in IPL 2016, but they failed to make it into the playoffs. In a much-criticized move, Goenka removed MS Dhoni as captain of RPS for IPL 2017 and handed the reins to Steve Smith, who took the team into the final, where they lost to Mumbai Indians by just one run.
IPL 2017 remains the first time when MS Dhoni didn’t captain a side in the Indian Premier League. He most recently handed over CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad for IPL 2024.
"The Super Giants family has been in the IPL for five years. Two of those were with Pune, and three were with Lucknow. When we reached the finals with Pune, it was a new and inexperienced team. You leave out Steve Smith and MS Dhoni, we didn't have much experience in the team.
We were about to win the final, but due to our lack of experience, we lost. So, making the right calls in those crunch moments is key," he told Sports Tak.
Goenka's claim of no experience in the team, except Dhoni and Smith, is false, as RPS had players such as Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Dan Christian, and Jaydev Unadkat in the final.
"Mumbai have a habit of winning. Everyone should emulate their never-say-die attitude. It was Pune's match to win but they lost it by themselves because of the pressure applied by Mumbai. This attitude needs to be there in Lucknow. Otherwise, we would never win. We have to be confident in ourselves," he said.
This mention of RPS by Sanjiv Goenka was an indirect dig at LSG captain KL Rahul, who failed to take the team into playoffs in IPL 2024. After making the playoffs for the first two seasons, LSG dropped to seventh place in the most recent edition, raising speculation about KL Rahul's departure from the team.
Amidst all of this, LSG announced Zaheer Khan as their mentor. The former India bowler will replace Gautam Gambhir in the IPL 2024. Goenka believed LSG required an Indian brain like Gambhir in the previous season to help them make critical decisions in clutch situations.
"Last year, I felt that an Indian mind, you can call him a mentor or anything, who has that fierce desire to win, was lacking a bit. Zaheer, even when he was a player, he was very determined to win. That was his only aim. I want that," he said.
Without naming Rahul or the leadership group, Goenka implied that he was dissatisfied with the team management's explanation for their poor performance in the 17th edition.
"I am not satisfied if someone comes and tells me we played badly today. Then, repeats the same thing the next two days. So I will ask him, ‘Why?’ One player can be off-form, but XI players cannot be off-form every day. The decision-making role that Zaheer can play. The role that Gautam played was lacking last season. So my expectation from Zaheer is to work on that decision-making," Goenka signed off.
(Sports Tak inputs)
