Faf du Plessis recalled the shock surrounding MS Dhoni ‘s removal as Rising Pune Supergiants captain after the 2016 IPL season, saying Steve Smith handled the difficult situation well and led the team to the final in his first season as skipper. “MS Dhoni was removed as captain of Rising Pune Supergiants after the end of the 2016 IPL season, and that’s the biggest move you can make in a tournament of that stature. We hadn’t won a couple of games, and the owner at the time made the decision to change the captain.
Speaking on Cricinfo’s show Cricketers on Cricketers, the former South Africa skipper said the decision to replace Dhoni, one of the most successful captains in the tournament’s history, left everyone surprised. Everyone was shocked after that call,” du Plessis said.
Reflecting on Smith’s return to international cricket after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, Finch said the absence of captaincy allowed him to focus more fully on his own game. Because he moved from being viewed as a bowling all-rounder to becoming a mainstay in Australia’s top order, finch said Smith’s rise was particularly remarkable. Because you need to get this much work done to feel ready to go, but you’ve still got to worry about everybody else, and then getting the amount of work he wanted done put extra pressure on him mentally,.
Smith led the team to the final, and we lost that final, which we should have won.
Du Plessis said Smith faced a particularly challenging situation, with Dhoni continuing to be part of the team after losing the captaincy. We were that close,” he said. That says a lot about him. He turned into this absolute gun of a batter who took the world by storm,” Finch said on the same show. “All the talk initially about him was that he was a bowling all-rounder who was ready to become the next big thing in Australian cricket, but then something clicked with his batting in Test cricket and he worked it out,” he said. “After the 2018 incident, coming back into the international setup, Steve Smith was more relaxed as a player because he didn’t have the captaincy for obvious reasons,” he said. “So, finding that balance and not having that captaincy pressure post-2018 was probably a weight off his shoulders because he could sit there and say, ‘Now I can just worry about myself.'”
“MS Dhoni as captain was gone, and Steve Smith was the new captain. That was pretty early on in his leadership career. He wasn’t experienced, but he did a good job. “It was tough having MS Dhoni as your number two there, especially after he’d just been removed as captain. “Winning that final would have made Smith an IPL-winning captain in just one season of captaincy. Former Australia opener Aaron Finch recalled Smith’s transformation from a leg-spin all-rounder into one of the finest batters in the world. “Steve Smith went from being touted as Shane Warne ‘s replacement, starting at eight in the batting order, bowling a few overs of leg spin, getting the odd runs as the finisher. Then something changed overnight. “He was always a handsy (good with his wrists) player with big movements, moving his feet a lot. Then he simplified that, and everything clicked. “The ability to go from number six and five for so long and then slip into number four in the batting order was extraordinary. He’s the best player I’ve ever played with by a mile. “As captain, so much of your time goes into things away from your own game.
