Pune's sacking of MS Dhoni was third-rate and disgraceful: Azharuddin

02/21/2017

Mohammad Azharuddin has blasted IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiants and its owner Sanjiv Goenka for the way they removed MS Dhoni from the role of captaincy for the upcoming season. The former Indian skipper believes that the issue could have been dealt with in a more graceful manner.

On Sunday, MS Dhoni was removed from the helm of the Pune-based team with Australian skipper Steve Smith taking over from him. Reports suggested that the team management was not too pleased with the way Dhoni had led the team last season when they managed to win just five of their 14 games.

Speaking about this decision to Aaj Tak, Mohammad 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.”

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.

Azharuddin

It has earlier been revealed by sources that "Dhoni himself had no say in the decision and that he was sacked", India Today had reported. RPSG owner Rajov Goenka had said, "We have opted for Steve Smith as captain of RPS for the forthcoming IPL season. We wanted a young captain. We spoke to Steve Smith and he agreed. We have communicated the decision to Dhoni. He is a thorough professional. Dhoni and Smith share a great rapport. MS is ready to help him on the field."

Azharuddin, however, feels that they should have asked Dhoni to step down gracefully instead of the public sacking that was handed out.

"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.

"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," Azhar added.

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