Ruturaj Gaikwad Replaces MS Dhoni As CSK Captain: A day ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opener set to be played between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the five-time champions have announced Ruturaj Gaikwad as their new captain, replacing MS Dhoni.
“MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of TATA IPL 2024,” an official statement from the franchise read. “Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period,” it added.
Dhoni has been at the helm of affairs at CSK since the inaugural edition of the competition in 2008. The wicketkeeper-batter has led the team to each of their five titles so far. While he had earlier made way for Ravindra Jadeja as the captain ahead of the 2022 season, following a disastrous start to the season, Dhoni returned as the leader for the Men in Yellow.
Will This Be MS Dhoni’s Final Season In IPL?
While there have been speculation regading Dhoni’s future in the IPL since the last few seasons, with him having made way for a new captain could be a massive hint at this perhaps being his final season in the competition. There is, however, no official confirmation from either him or his franchise.
“Circumstantially if you see, it’s the best time to announce the retirement. The fans have showed me a lot of love. The easy thing for me to say is thank you and retire. But the hard thing to do is to work hard for nine months and try to play one more IPL season. The body has to hold up. But the amount of love I have received from CSK fans, it would be a gift for them to play one more season,” Dhoni had said at the post-match press conference of the final after leading CSK to their fifth title in IPL 2023.
“The way they’ve shown their love and emotion, it’s something I need to do for them. It’s the last part of my career. It started over here and the full house was chanting my name. It was my same thing in Chennai, but it will be good to come back and play whatever I can,” he had added.