MS Dhoni gives up CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been unveiled as the new captain of Chennai Super Kings a day before the opening game of IPL 2024, where defending champions CSK take on the visiting Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk. This brings to an end MS Dhoni's long stint as captain of CSK - which began in the tournament's first season back in 2008 - though he had stepped away from the position in 2022 too, when Ravindra Jadeja was made captain. But Jadeja stepped down after eight matches and Dhoni took back the reins, continuing in 2023 when CSK won the trophy for the fifth time and drew level with Mumbai Indians at the top of the title leaderboard. That win was broadly expected to be Dhoni's IPL goodbye - he had resigned from global cricket following the 2019 World Cup - yet he promised to return for no less than another season assuming his body permitted it. Upset by a knee issue directly through the 2023 season, Dhoni went through a medical procedure days after the last. The 42-year-old joined CSK's pre-season camp in Chennai recently. Altogether, Dhoni captained CSK in 235 of their 249 games in all contests, driving them to two titles in the old Bosses Association T20 to go with the five IPL titles, in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023. Such was CSK's consistency under Dhoni's authority, that the group completed external the best four in only two seasons - 2020 and 2022 - while additionally arriving at the last multiple times, including four sequential years, from 2010 to 2013. He additionally captained Rising Pune Supergiant for 14 games during CSK's two-year restriction from the IPL in 2016 and 2017. Altogether, he drove groups in 226 IPL games, which puts him a long ways in front of Rohit Sharma (158) on the captaincy competitor list. The size of the shoes Gaikwad ventures into can be checked by Dhoni's success misfortune proportion of 1.461 in the IPL, a figure bettered exclusively by Hardik Pandya (2.444) and Steven Smith (1.470) among chiefs who have driven groups in at least 20 matches. The 27-year-old Gaikwad has been tipped to take over from Dhoni since he completed the 2021 IPL season - his second in the opposition - with an outline beating 635 runs. The Maharashtra hitter has since developed into quite possibly of CSK's most predictable entertainer, and his run-scoring accomplishments in the IPL have procured him a put on the quick fringe of India's best option white-ball crews. He has played 6 ODIs and 19 T20Is up until this point. With 1797 runs from 52 matches at a normal of 39.06 and a strike pace of 135.52, Gaikwad is at present CSK's seventh-most noteworthy run-getter. Among the primary issues he is supposed to deal with as chief is concluding who he will open close by, with his standard accomplice Devon Conway precluded until May with a thumb injury. Gaikwad has himself just barely recuperated from a finger injury, and has just played one cutthroat game in 2024 - a Ranji Prize match against Administrations, where he top-scored with 96 in Maharashtra's most memorable innings.