Sanjiv Goenka was upset with MS Dhoni on a number of issues, which led to his ouster.
The decision to remove MS Dhoni as the skipper of Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) sent ripples across the Indian cricketing arena but Sanjiv Goenka, who is the owner of the newly formed franchise, was very clear in his mind from the beginning as to why he wanted a new skipper for 2017 campaign.
Initially, Goenka, who also co-owns double Indian Super League (ISL) champions Atletico de Kolkata said that they believed it was time for a younger person to run his side and as he was very much impressed with the way Steve Smith ran the Australian team, he handed over the reigns to the Aussie.
However, Bengali daily Sangbad Pratidin's interview with Goenka opened a Pandora's box. The following comments of the team owner indicates that there were other factors behind Dhoni's ouster:
1. Last year our team couldn't perform according to our potential. So I needed a person who could convert possibilities into results, like Steve.
2. This is not a decision which would please the common people, but I think this is the right decision.
3. I always like to be upfront and speak the truth on someone's face. So there was no need to hide the fact that we were removing Dhoni as skipper. This didn't arise due to personal preferences. This was the best call for the franchise and so I had to take it.
4. It was difficult to get hold of Dhoni via phone.
The daily went on to report other instances involving Dhoni which angered the Goenka group:
1. Dhoni wasn't available during important meetings of the franchise. Every time calls had to be filtered through his agent Arun Pandey.
2. Last year MSD didn't attend a lot of team meetings. A senior bowler of RPS said the field settings which was discussed in bowlers' meeting was changed by the captain during the match as the skipper didn't know what happened there.
3. Dhoni skipped net sessions and didn't observe how the young guns of the team were performing. After some of Pune's defeats, Gujarat Lions' skipper Suresh Raina came up to RPS owners and advised them to play Aussie leg spinner Adam Zampa. The owners inquired Dhoni about the reason for which he wasn't including Zampa in his playing XI. The captain said as he wasn't part of all the net sessions, he couldn't gauge the potential of the youngsters of the team. Then due to persistent request of Goenka, Zampa was included in the team and he repaid the faith.
4. Also Dhoni wished to include players like Sourabh Tiwary who weren't consistent performers in the domestic circuit. Owneres were stunned because Tiwary wasn't fit but still Dhoni pushed his cause.
5. Dhoni gave inputs about the colour and design of the jersey which didn't go down well with the owners. In CSK, Dhoni reportedly had control over non cricketing matters but the RPS owners didn't want to give him that much power.
So the writing was on the wall and when Dhoni visited Goenka in January, he was given a clear indication about what was going to happen. Then RPS CEO Raghu Aich met MSD in Ranchi and formally conveyed the message to him. Dhoni didn't show any emotion and said, "You can do what you feel is right. This is your decision and I am ready to serve as a normal player."
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 "Sanjiv Goenka and MS Dhoni")
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