Suresh Raina disappointed at Dhoni's removal as RPS captain

MS Dhoni was replaced as the captain of the Rising Pune Supergiant before the start of IPL 2017, and RPS owner Sanjiv Goenka’s decision to replace Dhoni with Steve Smith has not gone down well with many. Goenka even tweeted saying that Smith was the real king of the jungle as the Aussie led the way for a Pune victory in the Maharashtra derby and followed it up with another tweet that showed Dhoni having only the fifth best strike rate in the RPS side.

Now, Gujarat Lions skipper, Suresh Raina is the  latest one to express his disappointment at Dhoni’s dismissal from the captain’s post, when he was quoted by the PTI as saying, ”I was disappointed. He has done so well for the country as well as for the IPL teams. He should be respected every time. It’s about not me saying, it’s the world saying.”

Raina was a part of the squad when Dhoni led India to World Cup triumph at home in 2011, and he also won the Champions Trophy in 2014 along with two IPL titles with the now defunct Chennai Superkings. Raina spoke in favor of his former captain saying, ”Having shared the dressing room with him (for India and CSK), you know what one goes through when one faces hardships. He (Dhoni) should be respected as a player. In any profession, be it as a player or a journalist, you need to be respected. Even a player, however short his career span may be, wants to earn respect.”

Dhoni hasn’t fired in IPL 2017 so far, and that has brought criticism from a large section of cricket followers, but for a man of his stature, it is only a matter of time before he comes good again. And as he has always done, Dhoni will be hoping to answer his critics with his bat or gloves rather than his words.