Steve Smith: Relationship with MS Dhoni pretty chilled out

After Dhoni’s unceremonious sacking as Rising Pune Supergiant’s captain, there were a lot of apprehensions at the beginning about how the duo would co-exist on the same page. However, their camaraderie and mutual respect stood out during the tournament with laughs and chats on the field. Dhoni, too, helped the Aussie taking some of the calls on the field. While that was visible on the screen, Smith later came out to heap praise on the former India skipper.

Speaking to iplt20.com, Smith said, “MS Dhoni has been fantastic as he knows the game incredibly well out here. As a wicket-keeper, it is nice to have someone out there who can look at the angles and get them right. He has done that well for us and I’m sure he will continue to make a big impact and help me and the rest of the boys and hopefully have more success in the rest of this tournament.”

Earlier in the match against Mumbai Indians, Pune needed to defend 17 runs off the last over after Ben Stokes had given away just 7 in the previous one. Having to choose from two options - Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat, Steve Smith made his way towards Dhoni to seek his advice on which bowler to hand the ball to. Dhoni, too, has also shown signs of coming back to good form and struck a couple of match-winning innings. That appears to excite the Pune skipper, who was all praise for the Indian maestro. 

“It’s pretty chilled out with him. He has been fantastic and has had a few valuable contributions with the bat and he is hitting the ball really well. I think he will come back to great form and have a bigger impact by the end of this IPL. I’m really excited about the next couple of games,” Smith said.

Rising Pune Supergiant will play Gujarat Lions on May 1.