New Delhi: It has been a while since the news of MS Dhoni being sacked as skipper for Rising Pune Supergiant broke ahead of the start of Indian Premier League 2017 season. Recently, reports emerged stating that the former India captain's sacking was a result of his inability to handle pressure in the previous season – a reason that has now been quashed by RPS coach Stephen Fleming. (IPL 2017 - Full Coverage)
“We lost seven games by a close margin under MS Dhoni’s captaincy in IPL 2016. Dhoni was not able to focus on finishing the games for the side. This is why the decision to remove him as captain was taken,” Fleming was quoted as saying in the reports which earlier surfaced. (MI vs RPS - Live Blog)
The former New Zealand skipper, however, took to Twitter to no just slam the reports but also hail Dhoni as greatest finisher the game has ever seen.
This is absolute rubbish!! Greatest finisher game has seen especially under pressure. Made up quotes are liable @TheSportswallah https://t.co/OWebDJkKCQ
— Stephen Fleming (@SPFleming7) May 16, 2017
"This is absolute rubbish!! Greatest finisher game has seen especially under pressure. Made up quotes are liable," Fleming was quoted as saying.
Dhoni had been captaining his IPL team in all of the past nine seasons. He led Chennai Super Kings from 2008 to 2015, and then took charge of Pune in 2016 after the Chennai franchise were suspended for two years for their alleged hand in a betting & spot-fixing scandal.
The foremost task for RPS coach Fleming would be to prepare his players for a showdown tonight against Mumbai Indians, hoping to maintain their 100% record this season against Rohit Sharma's team.
