On the eve of the beginning of the 17th edition of Indian Premiere League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made a big announcement naming Ruturaj Gaikwad as their skipper after Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) stepped down.
Even though this decision was written on the walls as Dhoni himself has tipped to hang his boots after this season of IPL 2024, but stepping down as skipper of the ‘Yellow Brigade’ came as a shock for many.
Emotions ran high in the dressing room. As Dhoni announced his stepping down, there were several teary-eyed players in dressing room. An era came to an end with Dhoni’s decision of stepping down as captain of CSK.
Dhoni, 42 led the CSK team since 2008 and guided it to five title wins so far, including a trophy in IPL 2023 equaling the record with five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
Two years ago when Dhoni handed over the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja, things didn’t go as per expectations of the CSK. The team ended up at ninth place in the tournament where 10 teams were participating. The situation was such that Dhoni had to come back as captain of the side in the middle of the tournament, but it was too late till then.
Stephen Fleming, coach of CSK has revealed that along with emotions and tearful eyes, there were celebrations as well when the name of Ruturaj Gaikwad was announced as skipper of the side. As per Fleming, Gaikwad was being groomed for the job and the time has come when he will be leading the side.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is an opener batsman who has scored 1797 IPL runs with 14 fifties and a hundred at a strike rate of 135.52. In the last season of IPL 2023, Gaikwad scored 590 runs from his 16 matches in the series. His batting average was 42.14 and strike rate 147.50.
CSK will face Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opener of IPL 2024 at the Chepauk in Chennai.
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