Ruturaj Gaikwad Named Chennai Super Kings’ New IPL Captain, Replacing MS Dhoni

Ruturaj Gaikwad has been appointed as the new captain of the Chennai Super Kings, taking over from the legendary MS Dhoni ahead of the IPL 2024 season. The announcement comes on the eve of CSK’s first match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk.

Gaikwad’s rise to captaincy marks the end of Dhoni’s long and illustrious tenure as the leader of CSK, a journey that began in the inaugural IPL season in 2008. Despite stepping down temporarily in 2022 when Ravindra Jadeja was made captain, Dhoni returned midway through the season and led the team to its fifth IPL title in 2023.

Even though many expected the 2023 triumph to be Dhoni’s IPL swansong after his retirement from international cricket in 2019, the veteran player decided to extend his stay for one more season if his fitness permitted. Battling a knee issue throughout 2023, Dhoni retired after the season finale and has now handed over the captaincy reins to Gaikwad.

Having led CSK in 235 out of 249 games across various competitions, Dhoni leaves behind a remarkable legacy, guiding the team to two Champions League T20 titles along with five IPL trophies. Under his leadership, CSK maintained remarkable consistency, finishing outside the top four only twice in their history.

In addition to his contributions to CSK, Dhoni also captained Rising Pune Supergiant for 14 matches during CSK’s suspension from the IPL in 2016 and 2017. His tally of 226 IPL games as captain places him well ahead of other captains, with his win-loss ratio of 1.461 only surpassed by Hardik Pandya and Steven Smith.

Gaikwad, a 27-year-old from Maharashtra, has been earmarked as Dhoni’s successor since his impressive performances in the 2021 IPL season. With 1797 runs in 52 matches at an average of 39.06, Gaikwad’s leadership skills and batting prowess have earned him the captaincy role at CSK.

As Gaikwad assumes the captaincy, one of his first challenges will be to decide on an opening partner in the absence of the injured Devon Conway. Gaikwad himself recently returned from injury, featuring in a Ranji Trophy match for Maharashtra and top-scoring with 96 runs in a innings.