Dhoni: Primary objective of the team was to improve home reccord

Dhoni said that the aim was to win matches in Pune as it is one of the grounds that fetch the most gate-revenue.

Rising Pune Supergiant, led by Steven Smith, has won four of its six games at home this year.

The Rising Pune Supergiant is still not assured of a place in the play-offs. Still, Mahendra Singh Dhoni pondered on the positive and stated that the team has achieved one of its “primary objectives” in this edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“One of the primary objectives of the team was to improve our record at home. Somehow, the home team record in Pune has been really bad, whether it's the Pune Warriors or the Rising Pune Supergiant last year or the Indian team in the Test match,” Dhoni said on Saturday while releasing Kangaroo – The Australian Experience, a book authored by cricket writer Sunandan Lele.

The Pune team, led by Steven Smith, has won four of its six games at home this year. The team has one more game left at home which is against the Kings XI Punjab.

“We had the sole motto this year, which was to win matches here because crowd turns up in large numbers to support us. It's one of the grounds that fetch the most gate-revenue, so it suits the franchises as well. We wanted to do well this year.”

“It's good that we have given them a platform where they can support their team. Still, there was always this apprehension whether we would really win or not. There's a stat about this venue that prior to this season, the home team had won just four or five of the 30-plus games it hosted. On the back of it, it was important for us to turn the tide and I feel we have won quite a few games this season and hopefully we will quality for the play-offs,” the former Indian captain added.