Steve Smith Reveals ‘Shocking’ Reaction When Told About Captaining MS Dhoni In IPL 2017
New Delhi: It’s rare to see MS Dhoni playing and not captaining the side. The former Indian captain is one of the best leaders the game has seen, having led the national team and his IPL franchise Chennai to skyrocketing success.
When Chennai was suspended from IPL for a couple of years, Dhoni played for Rising Pune Supergiants, however, he couldn’t replicate his success for the franchise which resulted in the team naming Steve Smith as captain for the 2017 season. The decision drew massive outrage but Smith paid dividends by leading the team to the final.
Steve Smith will not be part of IPL 2023 but he has been selected as a member of the commentary panel. Smith recently opened up on his experience of working with MS Dhoni and said that the veteran helped him in many ways during his captaincy stint with Rising Pune Giants.
“Of course, you know he’s been able to achieve so much over such a long period of time, he’s going to go down as one of the best leaders to play the game for sure. So, you know, when I got the call to say that they wanted me to captain, it was a little bit daunting. But that season, MSD was just wonderful. You know, he helped in any way that he could and, he’s a terrific guy. It was a great experience being able to captain him, but also very daunting as well,” Smith told Star Sports, IPL’s official broadcasters.
Steve Smith also revealed that he was shocked when he came to know about leading Pune Supergiants which also had MS Dhoni in the side.
“Yeah, I, I didn’t really know what to expect initially, you know, MS had captained every team he played for, obviously throughout the IPL with Chennai, every season should I say. But yeah, when they came and asked me, I was a little bit shocked first, and then I didn’t really know what to say. It was like, have you spoken to MS about this? This is a little bit strange from my side, but after we sorted everything out, MS was just wonderful. And the way he helped me and helped guide that team that year was incredible. And yeah, I couldn’t thank him enough.
Smith said that he turned to Dhoni everytime he needed someone to help him and the former skipper was always there for help.
“Well, it was a while ago now, but yeah, look out on the field. He was someone that I was bouncing ideas off. You know, being behind the stumps, he’s got a great, great view of the game. He understands the angles really well and obviously playing in India also, you know, it’s his home and he understands those conditions as well as anyone would. So, you know, I would’ve been stupid if I wasn’t trying to get as much knowledge as I could out of him in the middle. And yeah, he was very helpful and certainly helped us achieve what we did that year.”
Smith also opened up on the learnings he took from MS Dhoni while playing alongside him in IPL.
“I think just the calmness that MS shows, we saw it throughout his career, just how calm he was. It didn’t look like he was flustered by any emotions or anything like that. And that’s certainly something that I’ve taken in not just in that season, but just watching him go about his business in the prior years, just how calm and relaxed he was. And you know, at times I can get quite agitated and things like that. So you know, I have to try and keep myself as calm and as sort of levelheaded as I can. And yeah, that’s certainly something that I learned off of MS.”