After a seventh-place finish last year, Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) made a few changes ahead of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League. They dropped the alphabet 'S' from Supergiants, but the most notable change came through Steve Smith who was appointed as the new Pune captain in place of MS Dhoni.

Clearly, the sacking of Dhoni as Pune skipper didn't go down well with the Indian cricket fans. And, if that wasn't enough, Harsh Goenka - brother of Pune owner Sanjeev Goenka - sparked a outrage with his anti-Dhoni tweet.

© Twitter/hvgoenka

Right after their opening match where Smith's 54-ball 84 propelled Pune to their maiden win this season, Goenka tweeted: "RPSvMI Smith proves who’s the king of the jungle. Overshadows Dhoni totally. Captains innings. Great move to appoint him as captain".

While the Goenka might have deleted his tweet, his words still remain afresh in the memories of unforgiving Dhoni fans who used Pune's one-run loss against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the IPL 2017 final as a platform to poke fun at him.

Let's Have 2 Minutes Of Silence For Goenka's King Of Jungle: Steve Smith's Innings. #IPL #MSDhoni #RPSvsMI #RPSvMI #MIvRPS #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/qVPNEGc077

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) May 21, 2017

Chasing a mediocre total of 129 runs, Pune surprisingly faltered to lose the match by a mere run. But, amid a brilliant bowling display from Mumbai, the Indian fans targetted Smith who failed to get Pune over the line.

With 11 runs required off the final over, the onus was on the Australian captain to seal the game for his side. However, on the third delivery of the over, the right-hander slashed it straight into the hands of Ambati Rayudu to tilt the game in Mumbai's favour.

Smith departed after scoring a 50-ball 51 - the lowest highest-individual score by a player in an IPL final. It was worse than the previous worst 53* by Herschelle Gibbs for Deccan Chargers against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2009.

*Steve Smith kisses Harsh Goenka's Girlfriend*

GF : WTF kuch bolo ise

Goenka : Smith is a better kisser than Dhoni.

— Smoking Skills (@SmokingSkills_) May 20, 2017

On The Contrary, Another Best Finish Of #IPLfinal Would Be If #RPS Loses With Steve Smith Still Not Out Till The Last Over. 😂😂😂#IPL #Dhoni

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) May 21, 2017

was ready with both.....Steve Smith ne dhoka de diya..... pic.twitter.com/ka8eXuDTgC

— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) May 21, 2017

Hats off to @hvgoenka ji for his wisdom of appointing Steve Smith as captain and keeping fixers away from the dressing room. #RPSvMI

— Dhinchak Rofl Gandhi (@RoflGandhi_) May 21, 2017

Steve Smith's and his wonderful test innings come to an abrupt end.#IPLfinal

— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) May 21, 2017

#Dhoni Hater's Logic: Steve Smith Took #RPS To #IPLfinal, But #RPS Lost Because Of #MSDhoni. 😂😂😂🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾#IPL #RPSvsMI #RPSvMI #MIvRPS #Dhoni

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) May 21, 2017

51 by Steve Smith is the lowest highest individual score in an #IPLfinal
53* by Gibbs for DC v RCB in 2009 was the previous record#RPSvMI

— Deepu Narayana (@deeputalks) May 21, 2017