“Just Before Captains’ Meet…”: MS Dhoni’s Exit Takes CSK CEO By Surprise

The legendary MS Dhoni on Thursday “handed” over the Chennai Super Kings captaincy to opener Ruturaj Gaikwad on the eve of the IPL opener, a shocking choice that’s sure to ship hypothesis swirling on his taking part in future with the franchise. In a put up on X, the Indian Premier League made the announcement a day earlier than CSK tackle Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The five-time champions issued a quick assertion quickly after. “MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of TATA 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,” stated CSK.

There is theory that Dhoni will retire on the finish of the season and due to this fact the franchise felt the necessity for a clean transition within the stalwart’s presence as a participant.

Gaikwad, who has performed six ODIs and 19 T20s for India, made his CSK debut in 2020 and has gone on to signify the staff in 52 video games.

“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,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan informed PTI.

Gaikwad, a trendy opener, had a memorable run final 12 months, aggregating 590 runs in 16 video games at a powerful strike fee of 147.50. His breakout 12 months was 2021 when he amassed 635 runs in 16 video games.

The 27-year-old from Maharashtra just isn’t new to captaincy, having led the Indian staff to the gold medal within the Asian Games final 12 months. He has additionally led his state facet Maharashtra.

CSK and Dhoni share an unbreakable bond and the World Cup-winning captain is anticipated to maintain a major function within the franchise going ahead, albeit not as a participant.

CSK had tried the management transition even within the 2022 version nevertheless it didn’t work out with Ravindra Jadeja handing again the captaincy duties to Dhoni after eight video games.

“It didn’t work out at that time, this is different,” stated Viswanathan.

In a media interplay in a while Thursday, head coach Stephen Fleming added: “We weren’t ready to move away from MS in 2022. Dhoni has a good sense of the game, but we want to develop the young players for the role. We are well prepared this time.” Dhoni formally introduced his retirement from worldwide cricket on August 15, 2020 however his engagement in IPL remained intact.

The 42-year-old, who performed with a dodgy knee final season, underwent a surgical procedure after main CSK to their fifth title.

Dhoni has performed as many as 250 IPL matches, scoring greater than 5000 runs at a strike fee of 135.92.

Due to his knee points, Dhoni pushed himself right down to quantity 8 within the batting order final season however after regaining full health, he’s anticipated to bat larger up this version.

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan met Dhoni lately and claimed that the latter seems to be in fine condition following the knee surgical procedure.

“Last year, Dhoni said he was giving a gift to his fans with his cricket. I met with him a few days ago, he was playing pickleball for two hours non-stop. His knee was as fit as it ever was. It’s an exciting time for fans; he now has his vintage old look. Will we get the vintage old Dhoni too?” Pathan requested on Star Sports.

“His role has changed in the past two years. He comes in lower-order, plays lesser deliveries but hits the big shots, the strike rate is high. It’s a small innings but a memorable one. I think there won’t be much of a change in that this year. He will continue to play that role,” stated Pathan.

Besides stellar success within the IPL, Dhoni led CSK to 2 titles within the defunct Champions League. CSK made as many as 10 finals underneath Dhoni’s captaincy. If one contains his 14 video games for Rising Pune Supergiant, that extends his IPL captaincy tenure to 226 IPL video games with Rohit Sharma being a distant second (158 video games).

With Dhoni anticipated to play the entire season, Gaikwad could have the posh to lean on the charismatic cricketer in strain conditions. PTI BS AT PM BS AT AT