The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season is set to kick off on March 22. However, just a day before that, the Chennai Super Kings franchise made a big announcement. This time, Ruturaj Gaikwad will be seen leading the team in place of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
It’s noteworthy that the 27-year-old star opener Ruturaj Gaikwad will be the fourth captain of the Chennai team. Prior to him, apart from Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina have captained the team. Dhoni has captained the Chennai team in 212 matches, while Jadeja and Raina have led in 8 and 5 matches respectively.
Ravindra Jadeja became CSK's captain in 2022
Even in IPL 2022, the Chennai team had announced a new captain just a day before. At that time, Ravindra Jadeja was appointed as the captain, but his tenure proved to be unsuccessful. The team’s performance under Jadeja’s captaincy was poor, and Jadeja’s own performance was also dismal. Consequently, Dhoni had to take up the captaincy responsibility again midway through the season.
Under Dhoni's captaincy, Chennai has won the title 5 times
Dhoni, aged 42, retired from international cricket on August 15, 2020. However, he has been playing in the IPL. He has led the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to victory 5 times as captain. It was under Dhoni’s captaincy that the Chennai team won the previous season, i.e., the 2023 season, defeating the Gujarat Titans in the final.
Gaikwad's value is half that of Dhoni's
Gaikwad made his IPL debut in the 2020 season. Since then, he has played 52 IPL matches. Gaikwad is being paid ₹6 crores by the Chennai franchise for one season, while Dhoni is getting ₹12 crores. Thus, Gaikwad’s fee in the IPL is half that of Dhoni’s.
Dhoni had already hinted earlier
Dhoni had recently shared a post on Facebook hinting that he might appear in a new role in IPL 2024. His post had heightened fans’ excitement. In his Facebook post, Dhoni wrote, “Can’t wait for the new season and the new ‘role’. Stay tuned!” He did not reveal what his new role would be in that post, but now everything is clear from that post.