IPL 2017: Mahendra Singh Dhoni replaced as Rising Pune Supergiants captain; Australia's Steve Smith named new skipper

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New Delhi: In what would come out as a bitter blow to the Indian cricket fraternity, MS Dhoni has reportedly been removed as the captain of IPL outfit Rising Pune Supergiants, with Steve Smith expected to lead the side for the 10th edition of the cash-rich league.

The captaincy change for the 2nd bottom team of IPL 2016 came came just one day before the auction for the 2017 season.

READ: Top 5 players available to be picked for 10th edition of Indian Premier League

ANI revealed that the team management wasn't happy with MS Dhoni's captaincy and hence chose to name Steve Smith as the skipper.

MS Dhoni removed as IPL team Pune Supergiants captain;Management decided to name SteveSmith as captain as team wasnt happy wth his captaincy

— ANI (@ANI_news) February 19, 2017

Sources confirm that Dhoni has also been communicated about the decision by the franchise and he has extended his full co-operation to the team as well as their decision to replace him with the Australian national team skipper. 

READ: RPS owner Sanjeev Goenka reveals reason behind replacing MS Dhoni with Steve Smith as captain

Under Dhoni, RPS only managed to win only five of their 14 matches in the IPL 9 and the management wasn't too keen on giving Dhoni another season as the team's skipper.

READ: IPL 2017 Auction: Rules, where to watch, live streaming, schedule - All you need to know!

On a personal level, Dhoni only scored 284 runs from 12 innings with only one fifty to his credit.

The Pune franchise,however, are yet to give a confirmation on the news but several media reports have suggest that Mahi will no longer be in charge of the team for the 10th edition of Indian Premier League.

It was later clarified that MS Dhoni himself asked the team management to step him down as captain and wanted to be part of the team as player only.

#Update MS Dhoni himself asked team management to step him down as captain and wanted to be part of the team as player only. #IPL2017 — ANI (@ANI_news) February 19, 2017

The 35-year-old, who led Chennai Super Kings for nine editions starting from the league's inaugural season in 2008, recently decided to quit ODI captaincy and hand bandwagon of all three formats to Virat Kohli.