MS Dhoni is a very good captain: Steve Smith

Steve Smith had a great outing with the bat at the MCA Stadium at Pune against the Gujarat Lions. Smith hit a classy 101 off just 54 balls with 5 sixes and 8 fours. He was only unlucky to have ended on the losing side after such a breathtaking knock.

Speaking to the iplt20.com after the match, Steve Smith talked about how good MS Dhoni is as a skipper, his remarks on opener Ajinkya Rahane and a lot more.

The Rising Pune Supergiants were rocked with two injuries to their overseas batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Faf du Plessis. It has only made Steve Smith as the preferred number 3 batsman. Speaking on the injuries and the number three slot, Smith quipped that the no. 3 position is perhaps the best position to bat on.

“Yeah it’s a nice place to bat. Coming in during the powerplay makes things a little bit easy. (It is) Probably the best position to bat and it’s nice to sort of get in front of the strike rate and get the run rate up and going from there. Tonight it was nice to score a few runs but disappointed that we could not get over the line,” quoted the Australian skipper.

Smith was definitely disappointed with the way the RPS bowled. He, however, was content with his individual knock. He also admitted he was lucky to be dismissed on a no-ball. “When I came out, I was quite positive. I was able to get a few boundaries early which always helps, eases the pressure a little bit and from there on, obviously with a little bit of luck after getting bowled of a no ball, and then kept going. I hit a few balls out there in the middle and was lucky enough to keep getting boundaries.195 was a pretty good score I thought, but we didn’t bowl and field as well as we would have liked to get us over the line,” said Steve Smith.

Commenting on Ajinkya Rahane, the leading run-getter for RPS this season so far, the Aussie was all praise about his class. He believes that the Indian batsman will only get better from here on. “I think he is a very good player, plays very good cricket shots, which is what you can do at the top,” Smith said.

“With someone at the other end who plays a bit harder, suits his style of play, Ajinkya can just sort of bat through the innings and build a few partnerships which is always crucial in this format of the game. He’s a class player and he is only going to continue to get better,” he added further.

Lastly, he cited that MS Dhoni is a hard-working captain and is always open to suggestions, which Smith believes is a very good trait to have. Speaking on Dhoni and his conversation with Dhoni on the field, he said, “We were basically just talking about the game, what we think can be used best at that time and I had a few ideas to share and if he wants to listen he can or he could just let it go. He did listen to a few ideas and implemented it which is nice. I think he’s pretty good with what he does, he works hard, he’s a very good captain, he listens to the people around him that have the experience as well, which is a good trait.”

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