Suresh Raina hit an unbeaten 68 for Gujarat Lions but was not pleased with bowlers’ show. (Source: BCCI/IPL)
Captain of the Gujarat Lions, Suresh Raina, has expressed disappointed over the manner in which former skipper MS Dhoni was removed from Rising Pune Supergiant’s captaincy.
In an interview to PTI Raina said,”I was disappointed. He has done so well for the country as well as for the IPL teams. He should be respected every time. It’s about not me saying, it’s the world saying”. He further added,”Having shared the dressing room with him (for India and CSK), you know what goes through when one faces hardships. He (Dhoni) should be respected as a player. In any profession, be it as a player or a journalist, you need to be respected. Even a player, however short his career span may be, wants to earn respect.”
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Asked whether it’s affecting Dhoni, he said: “I don’t think. He’s back among runs. Hope he will do well better after two-three matches. We have only played five matches. After sometime the picture will be clear. He should bat up the order and bat long. He’s a world class finisher.”
Raina also termed his eight-year stint with CSK as the his best experience and said, “The time I spent with Chennai Super Kings will always remain special. We have won so many trophies, be it IPL or Champions League T20. When I was very young, it gave me a great learning opportunity by being among all the legends,” Raina, who was the man-of-the-match in their maiden IPL win over Mumbai Indians in 2010, said.
| Team | PL | W | D | L | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KKR | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 20 |
| SRH | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 17 |
| RR | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 17 |
| RCB | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| CSK | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| DC | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| LSG | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| GT | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| PBKS | 14 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| MI | 14 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 8 |
Dhoni has so far scored only 61 runs in five games with a strike-rate of 87 and that has invited criticism from all quarters. However, a number of debates have occurred with regard to MS Dhoni’s batting form recently. Social media was also abuzz with hashtag of “#Dhonidropped”. Dhoni has somewhat struggled to produce a fine show with the willow in the IPL. This has led to a lot of critics to come down hard on him. Former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly had also raised some serious concerns about Dhoni’s batting in the shortest version of the game.
However, Dhoni has found support from different corners including Virender Sehwag who said that IPL should not be a platform to judge an experienced player like MS Dhoni.
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