Faf du Plessis recalls MS Dhoni's removal as Rising Pune Supergiants captain

Former South African cricketer Faf du Plessis has revealed that the Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) squad was shocked when owner Sanjiv Goenka decided to remove MS Dhoni as captain ahead of the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

Du Plessis, who was part of the squad at the time, noted that the decision was a significant move for a tournament of that stature. He observed that Steve Smith, who was relatively inexperienced in leadership at the time, took over the captaincy and successfully led the franchise to the 2017 IPL final.

Despite the challenge of having Dhoni play as a subordinate following his removal, Du Plessis praised Smith’s performance, noting that the team narrowly lost the final to the Mumbai Indians by a single run.