Chennai Super Kings have just made an announcement that might surprise you! MS Dhoni has decided to step down as captain and has handed over the reins to Ruturaj Gaikwad just before the start of IPL 2024. The CSK team is excited about this change and said, “Ruturaj has been an important member of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played in 52 IPL matches during this period.”
Although the change of captaincy was a bit unexpected, it wasn’t entirely surprising given Dhoni’s dynamic approach to his career. On March 4, he made a mysterious comment on his social media handle, saying, “Can’t wait for the new season and the new ‘role.’ Stay tuned!” Almost two weeks later, the real reason behind the post was revealed.
The confirmation from the CSK management came just one day ahead of the team’s opener for the new season. The Super Kings, who are the reigning champions, will go head-to-head with the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chepauk in Chennai on Friday, March 22, to kick off the new IPL season. It’s going to be an exciting season, so stay tuned for more updates!” The team looks forward to the upcoming season.”
The change of captaincy was sudden and unexpected, but given Dhoni’s approach to his career, not entirely surprising. Stay tuned!” Almost two weeks later, the real context and meaning of the post were revealed.
According to CSK insiders, the franchise management was informed about the change in captaincy only on Thursday morning, just an hour before the Captain’s Conclave. ” We went by their decision,” said Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of the CSK, to Cricbuzz.
It is clear that Gaikwad, who made his debut in the 2020 season, was informed of the change in captaincy beforehand. However, Viswanathan would like us to believe that even franchise owner N Srinivasan was not aware of it until yesterday. “I believe that Rutu must have been hinted about it in advance. That is the way MS functions. He must have consulted him before deciding to hand over the reins to him. But we informed Mr Srinivasan only this morning,” Viswanathan claimed.
Gaikwad has experience as a captain in T20 cricket, most notably guiding India to the Gold Medal in last year’s Asian Games. He has captained 16 times in all T20 cricket, winning 10 and losing 5 with 1 No Result.
Compared to the previous episode with Ravindra Jadeja, who was handed captaincy and then had it taken away midway through the 2022 season, this change seems to have been more carefully orchestrated. The episode with Jadeja was a major PR disaster for the team, as he walked out before the completion of the season.
However, it is still unknown if Gaikwad is a long-term candidate for captaincy, or if there will be a change next year when the mega auction takes place. There’s a lot of talk that Rohit Sharma, who was sidelined from captaincy in the Mumbai Indians, is a potential CSK target. But Viswanathan refused to dwell on the speculation, saying, “We cannot say about the future.” He, however, confirmed that Dhoni will play this season entirely.
