CSK Appoint Ruturaj Gaikwad As MS Dhoni’s Sucessor For IPL 2024
New Delhi: Ruturaj Gaikwad has been announced as the captain of Chennai Super Kings, succeeding MS Dhoni, the Indian Premier League announced on Thursday. CSK will enter IPL 2024 as defending champions and face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in the tournament opener on Friday. It was Dhoni who handed over the captaincy to India’s Asian Games gold medallist skipper Gaikwad for the upcoming season.
“MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of IPL 2024. Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period. The team looks forward to the upcoming season” said CSK in a release.
Presenting @ChennaiIPL‘s Captain – @Ruutu1331 #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/vt77cWXyBI
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 21, 2024
This is not the first time CSK experimented with their captain. Earlier in 2022, Ravindra Jadeja was announced as Dhoni’s successor but that didn’t work out. Under Jadeja, CSK lost all their seven games, before Dhoni took over.
Gaikwad, who has played six ODIs and 19 T20s for India, made his CSK debut in 2020 and has gone on to represent the five time IPL champions in 52 games. The stylish opener had a memorable run last year, aggregating 590 runs in 16 games at an impressive strike rate of 147.50.
Dhoni is expected to retire at the end of the season and therefore the franchise felt the need for a smooth transition in Dhoni’s presence as a player. Meanwhile, a high-voltage encounter is on the cards on Friday when CSK meet RCB. More than it be a clash between the two franchises, it is more of a Virat vs Dhoni encounter.
According to CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan, Dhoni informed about his decision just before the captain’s photoshoot. “Whatever Dhoni does, it is in the best interest of the team. I got to know of the decision just before the captains’ meeting. You have to respect his decision, it is his call,” Viswanathan told PTI.
The stylish opener had a memorable run last year, aggregating 590 runs in 16 games at an impressive strike rate of 147.50. His breakout year was 2021 when he amassed 635 runs in 16 games. The 27-year-old from Maharashtra is not new to captaincy, having led the Indian team to the gold medal in the Asian Games last year.
Dhoni officially announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15, 2020 but has kept playing the IPL. The 42-year-old, who played with a dodgy knee last season, underwent a surgery after leading CSK to their fifth title.
Dhoni has played as many as 250 IPL matches, scoring more than 5000 runs at a strike rate of 135.92.
Due to his knee issues, Dhoni pushed himself down to number 8 in the batting order last season but after regaining full fitness, he is expected to bat higher up this edition.