‘Only one sharper than MS is Smith’
HYDERABAD:MS Dhoni has had an iffy IPL 10 but Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) owner Sanjiv Goenka sets a lot in store by what goes on in the former India captain’s mind. “MS is one of the greatest minds I have interacted with. And he is the best wicketkeeper in the world,” Goenka told HT on Friday.
Given that Dhoni was removed as skipper ahead of the season, the remarks seemed as unexpected as the slower ball surprises RPS’ Dan Christian and Jaydev Unadkat have produced in IPL 10.
“The one mind ahead of Dhoni’s is Smith’s,” he said, referring to captain Steve Smith. “My brief to Smith was: ‘win the championship’.
“It’s difficult to believe the way he has planned some dismissals, the tact and firmness with which he has dealt with tricky situations and the win-or-nothing attitude he has been able to infuse in the team, get them to gel as a unit. And he’s gone out in the strategic timeouts to tell batsmen to either score 30 off the next 12 balls or get out. If we had a bad start, it was because Smith was out with food poisoning,” said Goenka.
“You need to win eight-nine games to make the playoffs and Smith told me that between him, (Imran) Tahir and (Ben) Stokes, we would win seven. And players of the calibre of MS will always give you something. We had more match winners this time, players who would need five-six balls to settle down instead of 20. And we hadn’t factored in Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar and Jaydev Unadkat. Tripathi and Sundar are going to be serious players on the Indian cricket scene,” he said in Kolkata.
The journey from near bottom to finalists took some radical changes in approach. “The first season was a disaster and I wanted it to end soonest, with our dignity intact,” said Goenka.
From last season, RPS changed 11 players. “The team got younger, fitter and more energetic. So, we have fielded better. This time, with whom players’ loyalties lay didn’t matter.”
Goenka said it took him one year to learn how to control the ‘fragile egos’ of his superstars. “We didn’t want to be like a franchise that doesn’t invest its Rs 66 crore purse and is happy finishing fifth, but last year I didn’t know better. Also, with the World T20 around, we didn’t have time.”
Two days before he stops being an IPL owner, Goenka doesn’t know about the future but said dealing with great minds and building relationships have been key takeaways. Goenka said he is feeling somewhat ‘paternalistic’ towards players like Smith, Tripathi and Unadkat. “You want them to do well because they are such lovely people.”