Rising Pune Supergiants owner Sanjiv Goenka on Monday defended the franchise's decision to remove Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain for the upcoming 10th edition of the Indian Premier League. (Sacking Dhoni as Pune captain a third-rate decision, says Mohammad Azharuddin)Rising Pune Supergiants on Sunday replaced Dhoni with Australian Steve Smith as captain for this year's IPL which begins on April 5. Goenka said it was a difficult decision to remove Dhoni but the franchise felt that it needed an young captain. (MS Dhoni and Steve Smith's batting records for Rising Pune Supergiants)Goenka said it would be wrong to compare Smith to somebody as experienced as Dhoni. We felt that we needed to go with a younger captain," Goenka said.

Source: India Today February 20, 2017 15:45 UTC