5 Times IPL franchises were involved in the controversy

5. Rising Pune Supergiant axing MS Dhoni as captain ahead of IPL 2017

MS Dhoni is an undisputed captain of the IPL. He has led the CSK in every season they’ve played and the franchise hasn’t even thought about replacing him ever. Even during CSK’s two-year suspension, the Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), who bought Dhoni, named him the skipper of the side for the IPL 2016.

This decision wasn’t as surprising as it was obviously expected. But the team didn’t do well in the tournament and it eventually turned out to be the first season when MS Dhoni wasn’t the part of the playoffs or the knockouts in the history of the IPL.

Also, the team not doing well surprisingly led to the former India skipper being axed as the captain of the franchise. This led to the fans fuming over the RPS even as few didn’t even support them during the IPL. Steve Smith led the team even as Dhoni played the supportive role throughout the season. Moreover, Harsh Goenka, brother of the actual owner of the franchise, time and again took a dig at MS Dhoni over his batting in his tweets.