IPL 10: After removing Dhoni as captain, Pune franchise alter its name

Just a few months after picking up fresh faces in the auction and announcing a new captain, IPL franchise Rising Pune Supergiants have also decided to alter its name ahead of the 10th edition of the tournament.

The Pune based outfit have made a slight change their name as they would now be called 'Rising Pune Supergiant'.

However, the change has got nothing to do with superstitions.  “There is no superstition behind calling ourselves Supergiant now,” the team’s spokesperson told Hindustan Times.

“Last year we were looking at four to five players in the squad who had super giant abilities. While we were preparing for this IPL, we thought why just a few players, the entire team is Supergiant. So, that is why we decided to go with Supergiant this time,” the spokesperson added.

The IPL franchise previously named Australian captain Steve Smith as the new leader in place of MS Dhoni who miserably failed as a captain in IPL 9 when the team finished seventh.

Smith's men have everything to look forward to, having acquired the likes of Ben Stokes for a whopping Rs 14.50 crore along with Mayank Agarwal, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev  Unadkat, Manoj Tiwary, Lockie Ferguson, Rahul Tripathi, Milind Tandon and Daniel Christian to name a few.  Rising Pune Supergiant kick off their IPL campaign against Mumbai Indians on 6th April.