Australian celebrity Steve Smith served as captain of the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in IPL 2017. On the time, there was a lot hypothesis about how he would lead a crew that included the extremely profitable former India skipper MS Dhoni. After a lacklustre begin to the season, Dhoni was changed as captain by Smith, who went on to guide the crew to the ultimate, the place they narrowly misplaced to the Mumbai Indians (MI).
Smith has now returned to the IPL in 2023 as a member of the commentary panel for Star Sports activities, the place he mirrored on his expertise of captaining RPS and dealing with Dhoni. He spoke of initially feeling daunted by the prospect of main a crew that included such an achieved cricketer, however he credited Dhoni with offering him with invaluable steering and assist each on and off the sector. Smith additionally famous that he realized an ideal deal from Dhoni’s calm and composed strategy to management and has tried to emulate it in his personal model.
“So, you understand, once I received the decision to say that they needed me to captain, it was a little bit bit daunting. However that season, MSD was simply fantastic. You recognize, he helped in any means that he may and, he’s a terrific man. It was an ideal expertise having the ability to captain him, but additionally very daunting as properly,” Smith was quoted as saying to Star Sports activities.
Smith additional described his feelings upon being appointed captain of RPS, together with his preliminary shock and uncertainty about working with Dhoni.
“I didn’t actually know what to anticipate initially. MS had captained each crew he performed for, clearly all through the IPL with Chennai, each season ought to I say. However after they got here and requested me, I used to be a little bit bit shocked first, after which I didn’t actually know what to say. It was like, have you ever spoken to MS about this? It is a little bit unusual from my facet, however after we sorted every little thing out, MS was simply fantastic. And the way in which he helped me and helped information that crew that 12 months was unimaginable. And yeah, I couldn’t thank him sufficient.
“He was somebody that I used to be bouncing concepts off. Being behind the stumps, he’s received an ideal, nice view of the sport. He understands the angles very well and clearly taking part in in India additionally, you understand, it’s his dwelling and he understands these situations in addition to anybody would. So, I’d’ve been silly if I wasn’t attempting to get as a lot data as I may out of him within the center. And he was very useful and positively helped us obtain what we did that 12 months,” added Smith.
Nonetheless, the Aussie praised Dhoni for his willingness to supply recommendation and help all through the season, noting that the wicketkeeper-batter’s expertise and understanding of the sport had been invaluable belongings to the crew. Smith additionally spoke concerning the significance of sustaining a relaxed and grounded strategy to management, which he realized from watching Dhoni over time.
“I feel simply the calmness that MS reveals, we noticed it all through his profession, simply how calm he was. It didn’t seem like he was flustered by any feelings or something like that. And that’s definitely one thing that I’ve taken in not simply in that season, however simply watching him go about his enterprise within the prior years, simply how calm and relaxed he was. At instances I can get fairly agitated and issues like that. So, I’ve to attempt to preserve myself as calm and as type of level-headed as I can. And yeah, that’s definitely one thing that I realized off of MS.”