Ahead of the 10th season of IPL series begin this April, Star batsman and former Indian Cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni received a rude shock. He has been removed as captain of IPL (Indian Premier League) team Rising Pune Supergiants. Australia skipper Steve Smith has been appointed as Dhoni successor.
The decision comes a day before the IPL 2017 player auctions to be held in Bengaluru. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been the skipper of an IPL team since 2008. He first led Chennai Super Kings from 2008 to 2015, and then took charge of Pune Supergiants in 2016 after the Chennai franchise was suspended.
Dhoni has played in 143 IPL matches scoring 3271 runs. Dhoni is one of only three captains to win the IPL twice with Gautam Gambhir (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) being the other two.