New Delhi: MS Dhoni might have been removed as Rising Pune Supergiant skipper, but as far as taking crucial calls is concerned, he still is key to Steve Smith's 'technical panel'.


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Though Smith had clarified ahead of the start of IPL 2017 that he is not keen on taking too many opinions from other experienced players in the team, but in the match against Mumbai on Monday, the Aussie was spotted discussing strategy for the final over with MS Dhoni and Ajinkya Rahane. (IPL 10 - Full Coverage | Points Table)


In the post match conference, Ajinkya Rahane unfolded the discussion three of them had post 19th over of the match.


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"After the 19th over, when (Steve) Smith, I and Mahi bhai (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) were discussing who should bowl between Shardul and Jaydev (Unadkat), we picked up Jaydev. Shardul has good pace and we didn't want to give batsman the pace in the last over,” Rahane revealed.


"Jaydev's pace is comparatively lesser than Shardul and his slower ball is effective. The wicket was also little slow and Rohit (Sharma) was a set batsman, so our point was not to give them pace. "One side of the ground is small and one or two shots in the last over (could have made the difference). That was the planning in the last over.”


Here's a video of the incident, shared by Sportz Wiki:-



Chasing 161, Mumbai needed 24 runs off the final two overs and with skipper Rohit Sharma and the dangerous Hardik Pandya in the middle. The duo, however, could not stick to crease and Mumbai's innings concluded at 157, 3 runs short of Pune's total.