RPS sacking MS Dhoni as captain is disgraceful and third rate: Mohammad Azharuddin

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin was absolutely disgusted at the way Rising Pune Supergiants sacked MS Dhoni as the captain of the franchise. On the eve of the IPL 2017 auctions, the franchise owner Sanjiv Goenka made the announcement that Dhoni will not lead the team in the coming edition of the IPL. Australian skipper Steven Smith has been handed the captaincy role.

The reason that the team owner pointed out was that the team needs a younger captain. Quite clearly the decisions made by the Rising Pune Supergiants have not been the best thus far. Last year, they were led by Dhoni and had managed to finish at the penultimate position in the points table. However, that does not take anything away from the fact that MSD has been a phenomenal leader.

He had earlier led the Chennai Super Kings to title triumphs. Mohammad Azharuddin lashed out at the franchise for the way they sacked a player like Dhoni from his position. He rightly pointed out that the manner in which they stripped him off from the captaincy post was utterly disgraceful.

In a conversation with Aaj Tak, Azharuddin said, “The decision and manner of execution was third-rate and disgraceful. Dhoni has been a jewel in Indian cricket, he has won almost everything in the 8-9 years of his captaincy and even though the franchise can say they run the team with their own money, shouldn’t they have seen Dhoni’s stature and credibility before first stripping him of captaincy and then not even letting Dhoni the grace? I feel angry and sad as a former cricketer.”

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Sanjiv Goenka not only displaced Dhoni from the post but also kept emphasizing on the fact that Dhoni did not step down and the move was actually a sacking for the former Indian skipper. Azhar was absolutely miffed with the behaviour and said that the owners cannot simply blame the captain for their losses if the team fails to win.

He further added that the team owners could have gone to Dhoni and asked him to step down. Belittling his efforts and mocking his stature due to corporate issues is certainly not a good thing in the sport.

“What will a captain do when the team doesn’t play well? If Dhoni wasn’t a good and an inspirational captain would he have won two IPL titles (leading Chennai Super Kings)? Belittling Indian sporting legends like Dhoni through corporate board rooms is stooping down to the lowest,” asked Azhar.

“If they had wanted to change the captaincy they should have gone to Dhoni and given him the grace to quit on his own and tell the world it was his own decision. That would have given him an honourable exit but when you keep thinking like a businessman, you actually don’t think about the sportsman. I feel the BCCI should not let this go and should deal with it,” Mohammad Azharuddin concluded.