New Delhi, Mar 21 (IANS): Right-handed opening batter Ruturaj Gaikwad will be the new captain of Chennai Super Kings for the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), taking over the reins from the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Gaikwad's captaincy was announced on Thursday, a day ahead of CSK's season opener against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
“M.S. 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 the franchise in a statement on its official website.
The tournament also announced Gaikwad’s appointment as CSK skipper through its social media accounts on Thursday, when he participated in a pre-tournament captains photoshoot and met other teams’ skippers too. It will be the first time the Pune-based Gaikwad will be captaining a team in the tournament.
This will only be just the second time that M.S. Dhoni will not start an IPL season as skipper of CSK after Ravindra Jadeja was named the captain in IPL 2022, only for him to be replaced by the legendary wicketkeeper-batter after eight matches in the season.
It also brings an end to Dhoni's long stint as captain of CSK, which began in the first season back in 2008 and resulted in five trophy-winning campaigns, barring the 2016 and 2017 seasons when the franchise was suspended in the wake of the 2013 spot-fixing scandal.
Overall, Dhoni has led CSK in 212 IPL matches, winning 128 games, while losing 82 matches. On March 4, Dhoni posted a cryptic comment on his social media accounts saying, "Can't wait for the new season and the new 'role'. Stay tuned!"
Now, the meaning of that post has been made clear with Gaikwad’s appointment as captain. Gaikwad was the Orange Cap winner in 2021 with 635 runs in 16 matches, when CSK won its fourth title. He then made 590 runs in 16 matches in CSK’s fifth title win in the 2023 season.