Picture Credit: IPL/BCCI
Former Rising Pune Supergiant player Rajat Bhatia has made a big statement in a recent interview with SportsTiger. Bhatia said that the Pune franchise made it to the finals of IPL 2017 because of MS Dhoni and not their skipper Steve Smith. His remark comes after Smith was made the captain of the side ahead of the World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni in 2017.
The medium pace bowler, who has picked 71 wickets in 95 IPL matches, revealed that the franchises have their own respective thought processes when it comes to selecting a captain. However, the general trend is that they to trust the big names and that's one of the reasons RPS went with Smith as the leader. But the 41-year-old does not favour an overseas captain as he feels that the teams are not aware of the players who possess leadership capabilities from the domestic circuit.
Watch the full interview here:
There is no comparison between Dhoni and Smith: Bhatia
Meanwhile, Bhatia said that there isn't any comparison between the captaincy of MS Dhoni and Steve Smith. He does not rate Smith very highly as a captain. "If we look at all the 10 franchises, Smith doesn't even feature in top 10 captains for me," he told SportsTiger. "I was surprised that Rajasthan Royals trusted him with the leadership role," he added.
He went on to say that Smith had no idea about captaincy and he did not know which bowler to bring in amid a crucial situation and who to trust for the death overs. Bhatia's comment comes as Delhi Capitals are in look for a leadership option in their time after initial reports suggest Shreyas Iyer won't feature in IPL 2021.