Ruturaj Gaikwad Says ‘Huge Responsibility’ After Replacing MS Dhoni As CSK Captain For IPL 2024
New Delhi: Ruturaj Gaikwad termed the Chennai Super Kings captaincy as more of a ‘responsibility’ than ‘privilege’ after the youngster replaced legendary MS Dhoni for the top position ahead, just a day before the Indian Premier League (IPL) opener on Friday. Speculations were rife when Ruturaj appeared at the captain’s photoshoot instead of Dhoni. Soon after, IPL announced on ‘X’ Gaikwad as the new CSL captain. CSK will play Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the opening game of IPL 2024.
Reacting to his newly got responsibility, Gaikwad sounded confident. “Feels good. It’s a privilege and more than that, it’s a huge responsibility but I am really excited because of the kind of group we have, everyone is experienced, so not much of a thing to do,” said Gaikwad in a video posted by CSK.
“Plus, I have Mahi bhai, in the team, Jaddu bhai as well, Ajju bhai as well, who’s been a great captain. So, nothing much to worry, just looking forward to enjoy,” he added. 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.
Meanwhile, CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan revealed that Gaikwad knew about the captaincy change from before. “It was a decision between MS and Flem (coach Stephen Fleming). We the management of the franchise always leave the cricketing matters to the team management and they let us know about the captaincy change this morning. We went by their decision,” Viswanathan told Cricbuzz.
This is not the first time CSK experimented with captaincy. Earlier in 2022, Dhoni stepped down from leadership and appointed Ravindra Jadeja at the top. The move completely backfired as CSK lost all their first seven games under Jadeja before Dhoni took over midway in the tournament.
However, Dhoni dropped a hint beforehand when he took to Facebook to speak about a new role. “Can’t wait for the new season and the new ‘role’. Stay tuned!” he had said. 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.